Going for Gold, and Black?
by TommyOliverMMPRFan
Summary: MMPRPRDT crossover. It's the 2004 Olympic Games, and Kimberly Hart is about to step on the biggest stage of her gymnastics career.  However, she carries a dark secret which Tommy doesn't know about.  Also, some baddies are back.  What will happen?
1. 1: The Battle's Over, Or Is It?

A/N: OK, it's your friendly neighborhood writer back, with another story. This time, I'm going to try my hand at a Dino Thunder/Mighty Morphin Power Rangers crossover, with a lot of Olympic Games with the legendary Power Couple mixed in. All characters belong to Saban, and Disney. Note that there will be one character from Mystic Force (and from MMPR) in this story as well as one particular villain from Operation Overdrive. The beginning of the story is two months after the Rangers' final fight with Mesogog.

A/N 2: In this universe, Trini's dead.

Chapter 1-The Battle's Over, Or Is It?

Unknown Day, Time and Year

Aquitar

In ten years on Aquitar, William Cranston had become one of the planet's legendary residents.

The husband of the Blue Aquitar Power Rangers' niece, Cestria, Billy had become as much a part of Aquitar's society as anyone.

For one thing, he'd advanced Aquitar's technology far beyond what it had been. At 15, he'd been first exposed to the vast, expansive power of the Morphin Grid. In that time, he'd used it, as well as his knowledge, to build many devices capable of bailing his team out of trouble.

He'd now used that knowledge, as well as the new Earth technology he'd been exposed to before he left for Aquitar, to help the Alien Rangers of Aquitar and help Aquitar have better communications.

For a man who once detested fish with every ounce of his being, Billy was enjoying himself to the fullest on Aquitar, a water domianted planet. It also helped that because he'd achieved legendary status there, that he shared a mansion with Cestria right near the Alien Rangers' base of operations.

For as much as he loved Aquitar, Billy had enjoyed keeping up with events around the galaxy, particularly on the planet where he was first born.

Earth.

He was even thinking back to a time when he grew up in Southern California, in a small community outside of Los Angeles called Angel Grove.

It was a city that was once dubbed "Alien City," for all the different aliens from outer space that had tried to use Angel Grove as a stepping-stone to try and take over Earth.

Billy had many fond memories of that city. Its Juice Bar, with Ernie as its owner...a jolly New Yorker who simply loved keeping his customers happy.

Its park, which had held many fond memories for him and his friends.

Ah yes, his friends.

He still kept up with them.

His original and future friends, also known as the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, back in the day. Defenders of all that was good and true, and under the guidance of the legendary, snd seemingly deceased, Zordon of Eltar.

Those Rangers had been a team, through thick and thin, which was very often thick with excitement.

He'd been excited to see how far some of those Rangers had developed.

He smiled, in particular, at the thought of Tommy Oliver.

He smiled faintly at the thought of the former Ranger of FOUR different colors now.

Not only had the former Green and White Morphin, Red Zeo and Red Turbo Ranger been to the moon to stop Serpentera during Forever Red, he helped the latest team of Rangers, the Dino Thunder incarnation, to a victory over another bad guy (Mesogog, who Billy thought was even uglier than Lord Zedd and Goldar combined), AND he'd essentially taken over the role of being THEIR Zordon.

Then, he thought of Tommy's former girlfriend, and he winced.

The thought of those two in the same breath, much less the same sentence, brought chills up his spine.

He'd seen those two lovebirds go through good times and bad. He'd seen them grow up together, and had seen the perky, petite woman who was preparing to become Earth's latest Olympic Cinderella story be Tommy's everything.

And he'd been at the Youth Center when Tommy had receiver "The Letter."

Yes, THAT letter. He still couldn't believe that Kimberly had been so incredibly foolish to do that.

"If only," muttered Billy, "somehow, SOMEONE could bring those two together..." he mused as he went through his daily scans. Cestria was out, so Billy was alone at this moment.

"What if you could have your wishes become reality, Blue Ranger?" said a familiar voice coming from the doorway behind him.

At the sound of that voice, Billy shot up from his seat, and turned in disbelief to see a man he never thought he'd see again. With this man was a 22-year old adult familiar to both teams of Turbo Rangers.

"Oh my God," said Billy. "You were dead!"

Saturday, July 18, 2004

2:30 p.m.

Hayley's Cyberspace Cafe

Reefside, CA

Meanwhile, on Earth, in a sleepy coastal California town not far from where Earth's Power Rangers originated...

Four teenagers rummaged around this place, which had been much like Ernie's Gym and Juice Bar in Angel Grove.

These teenagers, however, were no ordinary teenagers.

They were the latest additions to the Power Rangers legacy.

Led by a man who many considered the Greatest Ranger Ever, Dr. Thomas Oliver (known to the Dino Thunder teens as simply 'Doctor O', they'd been through many battles, until, in early June, they'd defeated the latest alien to attempt take over the Earth, called Mesogog.

Their technical advisor, Hayley Johnson, was the owner of the Cyberspace Cafe.

One year earlier, Tommy had Hayley, a longtime friend from their days at MIT, meet with his good friend Ernie, as Hayley had wanted to open up a hangout of her own.

She'd followed many of Ernie's suggestions, and thus, the Cyberspace Cafe had been born. For the one year it had been open, it had garnered surprisingly high rankings from most California newspapers.

It didn't hurt that most of Angel Grove's former Power Rangers now lived in the Reefside area, although most the newest set of Rangers save for Tommy didn't know that yet.

As for the newest addition to the Ranger legacy, it was a regular, run-of-the-mill day.

Conner McKnight, the Red Dino Thunder Ranger, was practicing his soccer skills for college. Conner was on a soccer scholarship to USC, and knew he'd need to continue to get better if he wanted a chance to make it in Los Angeles.

His girlfriend, Kira Ford, also known as the Yellow Dino Thunder Ranger, was practicing her music for her first big nation-wide album. One month after the Dino Thunder Rangers defeated Mesogog, Kira had become one of the few to actually meet a former Ranger.

Tanya Sloan-Park, who'd been a Yellow Ranger on two different sets of teams, had become one of the United States' top pop stars (some music critics, as well as the former Rangers, had made comparisons between her and a Madonna without the fancy looks), and at her husband, Adam's, urging, made a recruiting trip to Reefside for one of Kira's concerts.

Tanya had been so impressed by Kira that she'd offered her a contract. Sensing it was her big opportunity, and that it was a former Ranger offering it, after all, Kira immediately took it. As she and Tanya were preparing their first big album, Kira knew her skills needed to get better for the album to be at a high level.

Meanwhile, Ethan James, the Blue Dino Thunder Ranger, was on scholarship to MIT. Being that he didn't have games to be working on, he was sipping one of Hayley's smoothies with the White Dino Thunder Ranger, Trent Fernandez-Mercer.

As the teens continued with their activities, suddenly, they were alerted to loud car noises outside Cyberspace.

Several car noises, in fact, one of which they recognized as Tommy's black Jeep.

Kira was the first to notice.

"Guys, look, it's Dr. O!" she shouted as she went rushing to the window, and saw Tanya, as well as many others, climb out of their cars.

The teens saw it too, and they were already rushing to the window.

"Yeah, but who the hell are those other guys with him?" said Conner, in typical nonchalant, Conner McKnight fashion.

"Those, my dear Conner," said Kira, "are the legends from Angel Grove. You know they all live in Reefside now, right?"

Conner looked at her with a shocked glance, as his jaw dropped.

'_Wow_,' thought Conner, '_these are the legends I've seen in Dr. O's video, and heard so much about_?'

"You can tell their friendship really runs deep," muttered Ethan. "But where's the Asian chick I remember from that video?"

"Trini Kwan," said Conner. "I believe she died in a car accident...three years ago, I think."

"Yep, Conner's right," said Trent. "I remember that day. I remember thinking that name seemed so irrelevant. How wrong I was when I watched that video."

'_So, Tommy's decided to bring the legends here_,' thought Hayley. '_This ought to be interesting_.'

It was a surprise to all of the teens when Tommy was the only one that walked into Cyberspace, and immediately beckoned for the four teens and Hayley.

"Craig!" Hayley shouted to her assistant. "Keep tabs on the place till I come back, if I come back! I gotta run!"

"You got it!" said a male voice, as Hayley joined the group.

"Hey, guys," said Tommy.

"Hi, Dr. O," said Ethan. "Long time, no see. Whatcha been up to?"

"The usual, cleaning out the lair and everything else," said Tommy.

"On to a more important topic, though," said Tommy, as the spiked-haired man in his late-20s became that much more stoic very quickly.

"How would you guys like to meet the legends?"

"You mean, as in your own former teammates?" said Conner, wide-eyed.

"Yes," said Tommy. "Thing is, unless you've been hiding under a rock, some of you have already met a couple of them," Tommy said, winking at Kira. "Most of them are here in Reefside."

"Aren't a few of them not here?" said Trent.

"Yes. You know about Trini, and she's dead. Our first Pink Ranger, Kimberly," said Tommy, as the hiar stood on the back of his neck when he said that name, "is training for the Olympic Games, last I knew. Billy's on Aquitar, and I don't count on him coming back for quite a while. Justin...well, I don't know where he is. He's been in school at MIT, and I haven't kept in contact with him lately. The rest of them are here, though."

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!" said Conner. "Why not?"

Kira simply rolled her eyes at him. '_Typical jock. I'd be falling all over him if he didn't sound so utterly stupid sometimes_.'

The rest of the teens did nod, however.

"OK, then Conner and Kira can get in my jeep, and Ethan and Trent can go with Hayley. Let's go to my house. Believe me, there's plenty of room for everyone there."

As the teens left Cyberspace, Conner's smile was radiating, and Kira couldn't believe her luck. She'd already met Adam and Tanya, and their two-year-old baby, Matthew, and now she'd get to meet the rest of "The Legends" save for a few.

Aquitar

Unknown Time

"You...were dead," Billy said. "And who is this with you? I don't recognize him."

"Ah, but he is a former Power Ranger, like you," said the familiar figure, who Billy recognized as none other than Zordon. "As for why I have returned, certain people have used their magic to bring me back."

"Hi," said the boy, who was actually on summer break from college in Boston, at which point, Zordon had come for him. "My name is Justin Stewart, former Blue Turbo Ranger until we lost our powers when Divatox destroyed the Power Chamber."

"Oh, I remember now," said Billy. "You took over for Rocky after he got hurt before the Murianthias thing. You were great during the Turbo era. It's nice to meet you."

"But I still can't understand why Zordon's here and what's important."

"A time beyond all telling is coming for all of you," said Zordon, "and you are going to need me, as well as the people coming out right now."

Suddenly, a familiar robotic sound came from nearby.

"Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi!" came a familiar voice. "I thought it was going to take FOREVER to reach Aquitar!"

Following him came a familiar, blue, robotic figure with an "N" insignia on his chest.

"Whoo, thank goodness. That journey was tiring," came a squeaky voice.

"Alpha! Ninjor!" said Billy.

"Billy! Thank goodness you're OK!" said Alpha, as he hugged his old technology friend.

"Of course I'm in perfect condition, Alpha," said Billy as he rolled his eyes. "I don't know what would give you those doubts."

"Haven't you heard, my young wolf?" said Ninjor, somewhat amused that Billy had no idea of what was happening elsewhere. "You need to get your head out of the fish pond at some point. There's been a series of serial killings, in particular on Earth. Trini was, in fact, a victim of this."

Billy gulped. Trini had been his one true love, the only one who could truly understand him. He'd known she was dead, but not due to a maniacal psychopath.

And now she was gone...because of a serial killer?

Somehow, he had the feeling he was about to be in Ranger business all over again.

"Don't worry, Billy," said Zordon. "You've been too occupied on Aquitar to know. In fact, none of my original Rangers, save for one, has any idea of what has happened on Earth with these killings. Only a few, like Alpha, myself, Ninjor, and the person I am about to bring forth, know of the tragedy that has truly happened to one of our Rangers. To help tell you about this, I bring the one person who brought me back in this room...here is the Mystic Mother."

As Mystic Mother, white robes and all, walked in, Billy's eyes widened in shock, as he realized just who Mystic Mother really was...or had been.

"Yep," Justin said before Billy could even speak. "This is who the person you knew as Rita Repulsa has become...a powerful source of good magic."

"She's even set up a palace on the moon, near where the old Lunar Palace still is, so that she can keep an eye on any evil doings in the galaxy," said Zordon. "She's part of the reason Forever Red took place...because her palace is on the moon, she was able to get warning to Andros and Tommy so they could stop Serpentera from being reborn. Though Tommy didn't need her help against Mesogog, Tommy knows Mystic Mother does exist, and he knows that she has a deep respect for him because, like it or not, he realizes she gave him his start in Rangering. The two have developed quite a friendship."

"Believe me," said Mystic Mother, smiling as she did so, "watching Tommy kick Mesogog all around Reefside was the most fun I've had watching evil's ass get kicked. He didn't have a chance."

"I see," said Billy. "So what does she know about these killings?"

"What I know about them," said Mystic Mother, "is that they are, sadly, the reason why the first Pink Ranger of Earth has been so separated from her Falcon, and from all of you, for eight long years."

"Kimberly," said Billy, as he stiffened in alarm. "Zordon, what's happened to her?"

"She has been sidetracked, and has been running scared for eight long years, while still training to be in the Olympics," said Ninjor. "I'm quite amazed she's still performing at that level."

"Sidetracked? By whom? A psychopath?" said Billy.

"Why don't we sit down?" said Alpha. "Besides, my circuits need a rest."

"Agreed," said Ninjor. "However, I first want Mystic Mother to contact Tommy. I want her to tell him we're coming to Earth in 48 hours, and that it's urgent business. All of Zordon's first Rangers that are currently present in Reefside, as well as Hayley and the Dino Thunder teens, need to be at this meeting."

"I'll get on it right away," she said. "Tommy was kind enough to give me the frequency to contact his lair, so we shouldn't have problems."

Saturday, July 18

6:00 p.m.

Tommy Oliver's Residence

Somewhere near Reefside, CA

"Hey Jason!" said Tommy, beckoning to his friend who was, at the moment, sipping a Coors Light after helping Kat set the table.

"Yeah, bro?"

"Go tell everyone the food is ready. I'm just taking everything off the grill."

"Gotcha. Adam and Tanya just put Matthew to bed, so we won't have to worry about him," said Jason as he left.

30 minutes later, everyone was seated and was munching on food, talking about the past. The young Dino Thunder teens, eager beavers that they were, had been anxious to hear about past Ranger lore, so that was what most of the current discussion was about.

"You...were scared of spiders?" Trent asked Zack.

"Yeah, he was," said Tommy. "We had to face this huge spider monster shortly after I joined the team, and Zack got freaked out. When I pranked him with a rubber spider, it was a priceless look."

"Yeah, and then there was the time on the Island of Illusion," said Jason, "where Zack got freaked out about a snake."

"Come on, guys," said Zack, "what is this, pick on the Zack-man day? Surely, all of us have our faults!"

"For sure, I do," said Jason. "I got really down after Tommy lost his Green Ranger powers both times. It took me a long while to get over that."

"Yeah, but it's nothing like getting freaked out over a MIRROR," said Aisha, rolling her eyes at Adam.

"Hey, that thing was powerful! Don't be rolling your eyes at me," said Adam, as he glared at Aisha.

"I don't get what the topic is now," said Conner.

"The Mirror of Regret," said Tommy. "It was a powerful mirror used by my archrival Goldar to attempt to rob Adam of his self-confidence. Fortunately, he survived it."

Suddenly, the door to the patio opened, and Hayley walked out of the house, seemingly with some urgency in her step, even though she'd just come back from a restroom break.

"Yo, Hales, what took you so long?" said Tommy.

"What took me so long is that you have a call saved. From someone named Mystic Mother."

"Interesting. Haven't heard from her since Forever Red," said Tommy. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her that we were eating and that she understood. She told me to tell you to contact Aquitar after dinner."

"Aquitar, huh?" said Jason. "Maybe we'll find out if Billy's still alive."

"Or if a fish ate him," said Zack.

"Zack, that was so not funny," said Aisha. "That was horrible, in fact. And can someone relay to us not up to date on Ranger information who Mystic Mother is, because it seems Tommy and Jason are familiar with her."

"We're familiar with her because of the Forever Red mission," said Jason. "Believe me, all of you old geezers are going to be beyond shocked when, or if, you see who Mystic Mother is...or was."

Aquitar

Unknown Time

"OK, done," said Mystic Mother. "Tommy's eating dinner...turns out this is the time he's letting the new Dino Thunder guys meet the legends. But the girl who is their Alpha, Hayley, said he'd come back to my call."

"Tommy's Dino Thunder team was fun to watch. Very much like the first Earth Rangers that Zordon had. Good for them," said Alpha.

"OK, then," said Ninjor. "Let's talk turkey. Zordon, would you like to begin?"

"I would," said Zordon. "About six months after the fatal letter which broke Tommy and Kimberly apart, most of you know that Kimberly returned to Angel Grove near graduation weekend."

Justin nodded...he remembered that day as if it were yesterday...the time when an 11-year old kid was entrusted with the power of the Morphin Grid.

"Most of you know that she was captured by Divatox, and with Jason, was taken to the island of Murianthias with Jason to be sacrificed so that Maligore could be awoken."

Justin nodded...how could he forget?

"She was eventually turned good, and the Turbo Rangers destroyed Maligore. However, shortly afterwards, I was visibly upset with Kimberly for not only falling prey to Maligore, but for writing the letter itself. So I called her into the Power Chamber, fully expecting to give what Earthlings would call a 'butt-chewing,'" Zordon said.

"So, did you? How bad was it?" said Billy.

"Actually, it turned out I gave her no butt-chewings because she has carried a very dark secret for eight long years, one that she told me in only a way Kimberly could do," said Zordon, sadly. "It was why I returned to Eltar after Divatox tried to ruin graduation weekend...not simply because Lerigot had granted me opportunity, but because I felt I had to do it for my own safety."

Billy nodded; he'd heard about Zordon's departure, as he was replaced by Dimitria of Inquiris.

"You see, Kimberly has been hunted by a psychopath who wanted her only for pleasure," said Ninjor. "And would kill anyone close to her to get it."

"Four months after she arrived in Florida," Zordon continued, "Kimberly was doing quite well. She actually made friends with a male gymnast named Rick. This went on for about two months, until one night after practice, Rick asked Kimberly to have sex with her."

"Kim told him no, right?" said Billy.

"Correct, Billy," said Mystic Mother. "However, what happened next was horrifying. Rick raped Kimberly right there in the gym, and bluntly told her that if she never gave him what he wanted, he would kill anyone and everyone close to her."

"Shortly afterward," said Justin, "Rick was off the team for that act, and that's when he began his killing spree. He first went to Paris and killed Caroline and Kimberly's stepfather. He next pursued Billy, but seeing as how Billy went to another planet, he had to go to an alternative. So he next pursued Zack and Trini. Zack left Geneva because he felt he was being watched, but Trini decided to stay."

"And got killed," Billy said. "Let me guess, this psychopath is why Kimberly wrote the letter."

"Correct," said Zordon. "Kimberly told me, bluntly, that she wrote that letter so she could PROTECT Tommy, not hurt him. She couldn't bear to see him fall victim to someone who had raped her. I felt so horribly bad for her and so scared that it's why I left to go home."

"I get it now," said Billy. "How's the psychopath and how's Kimberly before the Olympics?"

"Kimberly is fine, although she feels lonely," said Mystic Mother. "Much like Tommy, I have developed a good friendship with Kimberly also, in fact, all of us have. I visit her often, and she tells me that sometimes I'm the only thing that keeps her sane, because I've told her that she and Tommy will be together again, someday. She's been running scared for far too long."

"Observe the screen, and you will see the changes in Kimberly over eight years' time," said Zordon.

Billy turned to the nearest screen, and saw his childhood friend in a way he'd never seen her before.

Worry was marked all over her once-perky face. She also was much more mentally hardened by her travails, and had developed a sense of alertness.

And she definitely wasn't comfortable simply resting, although she appeared to be lying down rather easily.

"As for the psychopath," said Ninjor, "he was eventually convicted by police officers in Paris and Geneva of killing Kimberly's mother and stepfather, as well as Trini. He was sentenced to death and was executed."

"Wow, that's quite a story," said Billy. "But how come Justin was entrusted to this secret?"

"Because Justin is as much of a Ranger as any one of you," said Zordon, "and because Kimberly knew that Rick wouldn't target Justin...he was too young and not enough of a threat in Rick's mind."

"OK. I kind of see what's going on here," said Billy. "We go to Earth and wherever Tommy is, and we tell him and the rest of the gang what happened. We then get Tommy and the others on a plane to Greece, and reunite them both. Does Kimberly know Rick is dead?"

"No," said Ninjor. "In fact, she thinks he's still alive. My idea is to surprise her with all of you, Tommy included."

"There's just one problem," Mystic Mother said, shaking as she did so. "It seems that when I was still Rita and married to Zedd, that we had a son."

"She is correct, and his name is Thrax," Ninjor said. "He is the ugliest beast any of you Rangers will ever see."

"And the big problem is he's brought back Mesogog's right hand man Zeltrax, as well as Mesogog himself," Zordon continued.

"And my husband, and Goldar," Rita said. "He just did this yesterday, and they are all gathering at Mesogog's Island Fortress."

"Uh oh," Billy said. "We have broken wings that need to be mended, and we have baddies to take out again. It's going to be one wild ride. Tommy's gonna freak when he hears about this."

"What is it Delphine?" said Mystic Mother as the leader of the Alien Rangers came running into the room.

"Tommy Oliver has returned your call," replied Delphine.

"Tell him I'm coming and that I'll be right there," said Mystic Mother as she hurried out of the room.

"Wow," muttered Billy. "Where do we all go from here?"

TBC...


	2. 2: Falcon's Wings Clipped

A/N: I don't own em, Saban and Disney do.

Chapter 2-Falcon's Wings Clipped

Saturday, July 18, 2004

8:00 p.m. local time

Tommy's House

Reefside, CA

"So, it's meeting in 48 hours. Mandatory. I got it. Who's coming with?" Tommy said as he stared at Mystic Mother.

"Let's see...Billy, Ninjor, Justin, and a certain being that will truly shock you. Listen, I gotta jet. I can't take a chance on having my son hear our conversation," said Mystic Mother.

"OK. We'll see you Monday then," said Tommy and shut down the communication.

Time Unknown

Lunar Palace

Lord Zedd, finding himself somehow reborn, woke up, surprisingly, to find himself in his beloved Lunar Palace, to find that nothing had changed. The old place had collected some dust, but otherwise it looked the same as it ever did.

"I can't believe I'm back!" said Lord Zedd. "What time, and what year is it in this solar system?"

Seeing that his ever-loyal henchman, Goldar, was near him, he turned to his devoted warrior.

"Goldar! Go find out what year we're in! Then we can make our plans for the conquest of this planet!"

"That won't be necessary, dear Father," boomed a voice from the shadows.

From those shadows stepped a figure that no Earth Ranger had seen before.

Though he looked like Lord Zedd, and had his staff, he was not in fact the Emperor of Evil.

"My son! By the name of evil, it is you!" shouted Zedd. "You brought me back!"

"I did indeed, Father," said Thrax, as he and his father embraced. "Moreover, you will find that your abilities and powers have increased. Together, you and me, with Goldar, will join up with a recently deceased evil. Together with them, we will rule over all the Earth."

"I assume that recent evil was stopped by Power Rangers," said Zedd.

"Correct. And one particular Ranger from your past was mainly responsible...none other than Dr. Thomas Oliver."

"TOMMY?" screeched Zedd...he couldn't believe his ears. "Tommy's still around? And did you say Doctor Thomas Oliver?"

"And causing more trouble than ever. Yes, that former Ranger of FOUR colors is now a doctor of paleontology."

"Well, now's our chance for revenge on him. What of your mother?"

"Forget her," Thrax scowled. "She is a traitor...now known as the Mystic Mother. To think the mother I loved so dearly is now a wretched do-gooder is tough to take. In fact, it's because of my traitorous mother that Zordon lives again."

"RARRRRRRRRRRRR!" shouted Zedd. He couldn't believe his ears...that Zordon still lived. "Forget about that old windbag Zordon for a minute. What of Kimberly?"

"Training for the Olympics," Thrax said. Zedd wasn't too shocked about this...he'd seen Kimberly grow a lot under his hated enemy's guidance. "I don't know if those old geezers are planning on going to Greece to watch her though."

"OK, I wasn't too big on joining up with old forces until you said that my wife is a traitor and that the old fool Zordon is back, not to mention we have to get rid of Tommy as well as whatever powers he gave to whatever people," Zedd said. "But how did you survive Zordon's Wave?"

"I knew you'd see it my way, Father," Thrax said. If one could see it, he had a devilish grin on his face. "As for how I've survived, you can thank Scorpina for that."

As shocked as Zedd had been before, he was more shocked now. He had once fired Scorpina from his ranks ten years ago. And yet, Scorpina had the foresight to take his child and get out of harm's way.

"Before Zordon's Wave came through the universe, Scorpina was cognizant enough to me back to Master Vile's old palace on M-51, remembering that there was a stasis chamber where I'd be safe. She got herself to safety too, and when it was all over, she kept me and took care of me...all these years."

Zedd shook his head. How dumb could he have been to fire Scorpina? Had he kept her in his ranks, he might not have to worry about his problem now.

"Can we count on her help?"

"I've already talked to her, Father. She will indeed join our ranks. In fact, I believe Scorpina's working on negotiations with Mesogog's reborn troops now."

"Very well," Zedd said. "Let's go meet our new allies. Goldar, prepare to leave at once!"

Saturday, July 18, 2004

8:30 p.m. local time

Tommy's House

Reefside, CA

"ATTENTION!" roared Tommy as everyone mingled about. He'd just shouted in what most of the veteran Rangers called his 'leader voice' which just drew attention.

"I have an announcement to make," said Tommy. "In 48 hours, there will be a meeting right here in this household. Every Ranger through the first Turbo team, minus the people who you know I'm talking about, is required to attend. There will be guests and I will expect you to treat them with the utmost respect."

"Who are they?" said Conner from the kitchen, where he was helping Jason, Adam, Kat and Tanya clean the dishes.

"I don't plan on telling you," said Tommy. "I plan on making it exciting. Besides, Mystic Mother gave me a name of a certain person that's coming, and she didn't even tell me."

"I see," said Aisha. "Mum's the word, I guess."

"I'm telling you, you guys," said Jason, "you old-timers are gonna be really shocked when you see Mystic Mother. We were when we found out who she once was after she summoned us to Forever Red. Tommy, does this have to do with Kimberly? Did Mystic Mother tell you?"

"Yes, she did tell me this partly had to do with Kim and the Olympics," said Tommy. "Jase, I sense there's something behind why we've been separated all this time. What the hell do I not know?"

"Bro," Jason said, patting Tommy's shoulder, "You don't have any idea of the hell Kimberly's been through. Once you hear this story Monday, you'll change your entire opinion of her. I'm one of the few who does know because Mystic Mother told me after Trini was killed. The only people who know what really happened are myself, Mystic Mother, Ninjor, and Justin. This is not the same perky cheerleader-gymnast you once knew."

Tommy gasped. Somehow, he knew he wasn't going to like this one bit.

"Oh, Kimberly..."

Mesogog's Island Fortress

Unknown Time

Lord Zedd, Emperor of all Evil, could not believe he was finally back.

As he sat down to dine in Mesogog's island lair, he thought of what Zordon's sacrifice had attempted to do and how lucky he was to be here.

Much less that his son was alive too.

Six years ago, when Zordon's Wave had traversed the universe and destroyed most evil in its path, Zedd had been reduced to a mere human.

But now, thanks to his son, he was back. And with a second chance at his archenemies.

As he ate, he heard the noise of someone settling into a chair, with food as well.

When he looked up to see Scorpina, he smiled ruefully...not that anyone could see it.

"Thank you for taking care of my child," Zedd said as he turned to face the gold-clad scorpion warrior. "You have no idea how much it means."

"It was my pleasure, Lord Zedd," Scorpina said. "I felt I owed you one because you're the husband of a formerly dear evil friend. Helping Thrax gain control of his powers also helped deal with Goldar's absence."

"I also apologize to you for firing you that one time," Zedd said. "It was a mistake I still regret. Old grudges die hard."

"It's OK. Forget about it," Scorpina said. "Besides, we have a planet to destroy and Rangers to kill."

"And we will," Zedd said. "Oliver and his friends don't stand a chance! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Monday, July 20, 2004

7:55 p.m. local time

Tommy's Lair

Reefside, CA

As the three Dino Thunder teens, and Hayley, walked into Tommy's lair, where they had been told to go, they all looked at each other in wondering.

Just who were these people coming?

Sure, they'd all seen most of the other legendary Rangers, so who else was there to see?

And just who was Mystic Mother?

Meanwhile, outside...

In Tommy's backyard, the ex-Rangers present were currently lounging on lawnchairs.

They'd been informed to expect an arrival at approximately eight that night, and so there they were, waiting for the arrivals.

They didn't have long to wait.

"Look!" said Rocky as he suddenly heard a noise in the sky.

He pointed northward, and there, in the distance, was a large blue and white spaceship rapidly heading towards the ground.

"I guess the welcome wagon's here," said Tanya.

Tommy had no qualms with the ship landing in his backyard, seeing there was nothing around the place for miles and that his residence was at least five miles outside the city.

'_Now are going to come the hard parts_,' thought Tommy. '_Convincing everyone besides Jase that Mystic Mother isn't who she was, and having to hear about whatever Kim's been through_,'

But Tommy's toughest challenges would wait, for first out of the spaceship came a stocky, 30-year-old man wearing a light blue shirt, dark blue pants and glasses.

"Look, guys!" said Tanya.

"BILLY!" shouted Jason, as he ran to greet his old friend.

"It's been a long time, Jason," said Billy. "Far too long."

The two exchanged hugs, followed shortly by greetings from the other Rangers.

"Welcome to Reefside, Bill-man," said Tommy. "You'll be impressed with the...uh, base, and the team I've created."

"I can't wait to see it, Tom," said Billy. "But do you really think you're the only one I'm going to be conversing with?"

Billy gestured to the ship, and four figures walked out of it and towards the group.

A fifth, distinctly a female sorceress, stayed in the shadows, as she had been told prior not to reveal herself right away.

But meanwhile, the Rangers just gasped in shock at the other four.

The first was a young man who was about 21, wearing a Boston Red Sox cap and an MIT shirt. His hair, once shaggy, was now spiked and short. His once short frame was now six foot, and all muscle.

The young man smiled at Rocky, and he smiled back.

The second was a blue robotic figure, with a gold "N" insignia on his chest.

The third was a small, red and yellow robot with a lightning bolt engraved across his chest.

And the fourth, which drew gasps from them all, was distinctly male, clad in all white and bald. His stoic face turned into a smile when he encountered the faces of all those he had mentored.

"Greetings once again, my friends," said the fourth figure. "It has been far too long."

"My God," said Adam.

"No way," said Jason.

"Zordon!" said Tommy.

"Ninjor!" said Aisha.

"Alpha!" said Kat.

"Justin!" said Tanya.

"We are all excited to see you again, friends," said Alpha. "Aye-yi-yi! My circuits have been waiting for this day!"

"I welcome you all to the city of Reefside," said Tommy. "I trust that all of you will enjoy your stay here."

"We plan on it," said Ninjor.

"Might I be obliged to take all of you down to my lair?" said Tommy. "I don't want to keep the kids and Hayley waiting. By the looks of this, it's going to be important."

"You can take us in a moment, Tom," said Billy. "But first, there's someone I want to introduce, or, rather, reintroduce to the vast majority of you."

Tommy gulped, as he knew what was coming.

"Tommy and Jason are familiar with her from the Forever Red mission," said Zordon, "Kimberly has become close friends with her, and all of you have fought her in her evil state. I present...the Mystic Mother."

As the distinctly female sorceress walked out of the spaceship, the majority of the group gasped in shock.

"I don't believe this," said Kat.

"No...way...in...hell," said Rocky.

"Not believable," said Aisha.

They all knew who it was, and they looked to one another, and back towards Mystic Mother.

"Yep, guys," said Jason, "this is what Rita Repulsa has become. She is now, quite possibly, the most powerful force of good in this universe, right up there with Zordon himself."

"Wow," said Zack. "I think...I need a drink."

"I think we all do," said Justin. "I'm really thirsty."

"Let's go get some drinks and then we'll go downstairs," said Tommy. "I'll grab some munchies out of the kitchen."

With that, Tommy hurried off, as Zordon made his way towards his second Black Ranger and his wife, who were holding their child.

"Nice child," Zordon commented.

"Thanks. Tanya and I are really proud," said Adam. "Matthew's a quiet child...and like most kids his age, he doesn't know any better. Mystic Mother brought you back to life, right?"

"Correct," said Zordon. "We're all here because we have two major problems on our hands."

As Tommy prepared munchies and drinks in his kitchen, he noticed someone pulling him into a hug.

He turned around and found himself locked in a hug with the one who had given him his first shot at Rangering before Zordon ever did.

"Welcome to my humble abode, Mystic Mother," said Tommy. "I hope you enjoy your stay. What's the reason for the hug though?"

"I just wanted to make sure someone gave you a hug before you hear the news you're about to hear. Tommy, it's not going to be pretty regarding Kim."

That statement alone made Tommy almost burst out crying.

Tommy's Lair

30 minutes later

"Man, where IS he?" said Kira, as she paced back and forth.

"He's been late before, but never like this," said Trent.

"Wait a minute, I think I hear something," said Hayley..

What the teens and Hayley heard were footsteps.

In came the ex-Rangers first, led by Tommy.

Following them were five figures the teens didn't exactly recognize.

They were followed by various drinks and snacks being led into Tommy's lair.

As the Rangers and the new arrivals filed in, the new arrivals gasped in awe.

There, before them, was the modern-day version of Zordon's Command Center.

And damn it to some of them if the new place didn't look somewhat like the old one!

"My God, look at this," said Billy.

"Wow," said Justin.

"I'd heard Tommy had a lair built, but I never thought it was this exquisite," said Mystic Mother.

"You really have outdone yourself, Falcon," said Ninjor.

"Only thing this place lacks is teleportation but I didn't have enough time to go get what was needed for that," said Tommy.

"It looks OK otherwise, Tommy," said Billy. "I don't know how the hell you did this, but you really exceeded my expectations."

"I couldn't have done it without...these five," Tommy said as he suddenly pointed to the four teens and his technical advisor.

"That's Hayley Johnson, my friend from college," said Tommy. "She's um...essentially you," he said, pointing at Alpha.

"This guy," he said, turning to his left, "is my Red Tyranno Ranger, Conner McKnight. He's on soccer scholarship in college in the fall. Conner reminds me of a young Rocky."

"This one," he said pointing in front of him and to his left, "is one of my versions of you, Ethan James, my Blue Ranger," he said, while nodding at Billy.

This one," he said pointing in front of him and to his right, "is my Yellow, Kira. She's signed a contract with Tanya for a singing career and is practicing some songs for Tanya's latest album."

"And this one," said Tommy, pointing directly to his right, "is...well...me when I joined the team. That's my White, Trent Fernandez. His father was actually Mesogog before we got him back to normal."

"These...are my successors to the Dino Powers," said Tommy.

"Guys," he said, turning to his teens with a dead serious look in his eyes, all the while pointing behind him, to his left, "that, over there, is the legend himself, my mentor, Zordon of Eltar."

"Wow," said Kira, in total awe. "So that's him. That's the one who started it all...who made Dr. O the person we know him."

"It is a pleasure, and quite an honor, to meet the successors to the Original Dino Powers," said Zordon. "I can't even begin to express how proud I am of you, Tommy. You managed to pull off the unthinkable...build a modern-day Command Center which only lacks teleportation, create a team of Rangers and mold them into your own, and beat a villain bent on bringing the Earth back to a prehistoric period. I can already tell your team embodies what it takes to be a Power Ranger. When I'd heard you'd created a team and defeated a villain, I was a bit taken aback. Now, I'm truly speechless."

"And Miss Ford, you are more like any of my Yellow Rangers than you will ever know," said Zordon.

"Dr. O's the greatest," said Kira. "He put his faith and trust in three unproven teenagers and an owner of a knockoff Ernie's Juice Bar. But he knew we'd win, and he did."

"You have put your trust in the team you created, Tommy," said Zordon. "A job well done. Now, you must once again build your faith in your Crane, your soulmate for all-time."

"Kim," said Tommy. "I can tell it's gonna get serious now."

"Uh, Dr. O, before we start going into that, who the hell are these other guys?" said Ethan.

"Oh. Yeah. That," said Tommy.

"From left to right...first is one of my original teammates, Billy Cranston. He was the Original Blue Ranger, and he was the technical advisor for the Morphin and Zeo teams. He was the original Hayley before I met her," Tommy said.

"Uh, hi," Hayley said as Billy walked up to her. "Please excuse me if I stutter because I'm in the presence of the first Blue Ranger, and...well, the original me."

"Oh, that's quite all right," Billy said. "It's quite nice to meet you."

"Did anyone ever tell you that you look quite cute?" said Hayley.

"I haven't heard that in a long time, actually," said Billy, "so it's quite nice to hear."

Billy was taken aback a bit when Hayley put her arms around him, and enveloped him in a huge hug. Billy found himself comfortable in Hayley's touch, and thus decided to let her hold him.

Meanwhile, Conner was positively salivating over what was happening

"Hayley's got a boyfriend...Hayley's got a boyfriend..." muttered Conner.

That was, until he received a thump on the back of the head.

"Conner, I swear to God, you say THE stupidest things sometimes!" Kira said, glaring at him. "Knock it off, would you?"

"Anyways," said Tommy, "next is Justin Stewart, former Blue Turbo Ranger, the last team I was a part of before Dimitria had us hand over our powers. Next is Alpha 5, who I like to call a robot version of Hayley. He's from Edenoi, a planet Adam, Aisha, Rocky, Billy and I went to help while we were Rangers. Next is Ninjor, whom I went to get powers from after the Thunderzords were destroyed in a horrific battle nine years ago. And finally, Mystic Mother, who brought Zordon back to life. She was Rita Repulsa in the time when I was a Ranger before Dimitria had us retire. Her evil spirit died with Zordon's wave."

"It's a pleasure and an honor to meet my Falcon's Rangers," said Ninjor. "If my Falcon deemed you worthy of holding the Power, then there's no doubt in my mind that you are. Congratulations on all you have accomplished so far and best wishes for success down the road, Dino Thunder Rangers."

"Thank you sir," said Conner. "Now, I believe there's something you want to talk to Dr. O about. Do we need to stay?"

"Yes, you do," said Mystic Mother from the side. "I would encourage that everyone sit down and grab some drinks. This one's gonna take a while."

After the group had been settled (Conner still smirking over Hayley in Billy's arms), Tommy immediately addressed the new arrivals.

"I want to know, guys," Tommy said, "what has happened to Kim that I can't be with her?"

"Wait a second," said Conner, "who's Kim?"

Once again, Kira smacked him in the head.

"You're on a roll with stupid comments tonight, McKnight," said Kira. "You dolt, she was the first Pink Ranger! You saw her in the video!"

"OK, that's enough with the stupid comments, Conner," said Tommy. "But I ask again, what's happened to Kim that I don't know about?"

"Falcon," said Zordon, "Kimberly wrote that letter for your protection."

"Protection? I don't get where you're going with this," said Tommy.

"Tommy," said Alpha, "there's no other easy way to explain this, but poor Kimberly was hunted...by a serial killer."

And as the new arrivals told him the story, any sort of hate he may have mustered up for his Crane began to dissolve.

By the time Zordon, Mystic Mother and Ninjor finished telling Kimberly's story, Tommy was in tears.

TBC...


	3. 3: Ninja Quest Redux Begins

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas.

Chapter 3-Ninja Quest Redux Begins

Monday, July 20, 2004

8:45 p.m. local time

Tommy's Lair

Reefside, CA

The veteran Rangers, save for Billy, Tommy, Justin and Jason, couldn't have been more shocked if Lord Zedd had dropped out of the sky playing an eletric guitar.

Their friend had separated herself from them...by necessity.

"Ninjor," said Adam, "you said this serial killer is dead?"

"Yes, Frog," said Ninjor.

However, that didn't matter to a shattered Tommy Oliver.

No matter whatever heroics he seemed to perform, and he had performed a lot of them, heartbreak always seemed to find him...somewhere.

"WHY?????" wailed Tommy, as tears rained out of his eyes. "WHY ME? WHY?"

"Tommy," said Justin, "you don't freaking get it, do you?"

Tommy glared at his ex-Turbo teammate, saying, "And just what gives you the right to speak on this matter?"

"Because I have BEEN there for her after I left the Rangers, Tommy!" said Justin.

"You would be wise to listen to Justin, Falcon," said Zordon.

"Believe me, Tommy, the fact that you didn't know about this was FOR YOUR OWN GOOD," said Justin. "That goes for the rest of you also."

"I refuse to believe he would have successfully come after us," said Tommy.

"He would have," said Justin. "If you don't believe me, just ask Trini. Oh wait, we can't ask her anymore."

"You're telling us Trini died because of this Rick bastard?" said Adam.

"Yes," Ninjor said. "It is unfortunate, but this sick excuse for a human being would not rest until all of you were dead. She did that for Tommy's OWN PROTECTION."

Meanwhile, Conner had been listening to all of this, and turned to his teammates.

"I don't know about you, but I think Dr. O needs some time with his friends," Conner said. "Besides, it's getting late. What do you say?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this but I actually agree with Conner on something," Ethan said. "Trent, Kira, you coming?"

"I am," Trent said. "Let's go."

"Eh, I'll stay," said Kira. "I just feel I need to be here for Dr. O tonight, plus I want to speak with Tanya about the album tomorrow. Besides, my parents are out of town."

"Suit yourself," said Trent. "Methinks you've been into Dr. O's personal files too much. Conner, Ethan, let's go."

Kira rolled her eyes, grabbed a can of Coke and sat back down as the other three teenagers filed out of the lair, sad looks creasing their faces.

As the teenagers filed out silently, Tommy sat in his chair, tears still streaming down his face.

"She didn't deserve this," said Tommy, "and neither do I..."

"Neither did any of us," said Zordon. "I would never have gone back to Eltar had I not been in danger, but I felt there was enough danger where I had to go back home."

"That bastard's work will be in vain," said Jason. "She's still got friends amongst us, and I shall expect that these Olympics will be a time where we can all come together for a cause. I will never allow the person who made Zordon leave get away with anything. Nor will I allow that person who changed Kimberly from what she was get away with anything."

The sad commiseration amongst the elder Rangers continued for about 25 minutes, until Rocky noticed something.

"Hey!" said Rocky. "Someone's stealing my food!"

"Leave it to your stomach to talk Roc-Kira???" said Tommy, as he suddenly noticed Kira was the only one of the Dino Thunder team still there.

"Yeah, I'm still here," said Kira. "The others went home, thinking maybe you'd like to be alone with your old friends. I care too much about what happens to my version of Zordon to just walk out."

"Yep, she's a Yellow," said Aisha. "A TRUE Yellow."

"Huh? I don't get it," said Kira. "Speak English, please."

"Traditionally, Yellow Rangers are the most selfless, care the most about their teammates and elders," said Zordon. "And from what I see tonight, you fit that mold perfectly."

"Oh," said Kira. "From the research I've done about the Rangers, I should know that."

"Research about the Rangers????" Tommy exclaimed. "Kira, how many of my personal files have you been in?"

"Well, EXCUSE me if I'm not supposed to know about my predecessors!" Kira said. "In case you don't know, it's something I do in my spare time."

"Settle down, Tommy," Billy said. "It's better for someone on their team to gather all the knowledge he or she can about our team. Miss Ford, I applaud you."

"But seriously, why are you still here?" said Tommy.

"Because I figured you could use my support," said Kira. "Part of my research involved your relationship with Miss Hart. Considering how important that topic is to you, I figured you could use some support."

"That's the Kira Ford I know," said Tanya. "THAT's part of the reason Adam convinced me to sign her, and THAT is why I accepted."

"Yep, you're more than just a student," said Tommy. "You embody what being a Power Ranger is all about."

"And besides," said Kira, "I want to talk with Tanya tomorrow about the album."

"Good thinking," said Tanya. "I like it."

"I'm also glad she stayed," said Zordon. "We have another problem."

"What is it?" said Tommy.

"Uh...it's my son," said Mystic Mother, which caused Tommy to gasp, "and, uh, my ex."

"Son?" said Adam. "Come again?"

"Yes. Called Thrax," said Justin. "And he's as UGLY as his father."

"So, what are we gonna do about it?" said Rocky. "We can't just go tripping off to Greece while radiator face's son is out there."

"Actually, there is a way," said Alpha, all the while pointing at Ninjor.

"This guy. And your most recent team."

Are they ready for the Ninja powers?" said Tommy. "I know Kira's ready, but the rest of them?"

"I don't think we have a choice," said Justin. "Kimberly needs her friends, and yes that does include you."

30 minutes later, Kira having packed her belongings for the night just in case, was setting up shop in Tommy's guest bedroom.

"Hmmm...got my vanity stuff, toothbrush, soap, clothes...yep," muttered Kira. She'd brought along a few books as well, and was just sitting down to read when she felt someone tap her shoulder.

She looked up from the bed, and smiled when she saw her mentor's mentor in front of her.

"I must thank you, Miss Ford," said Zordon, as he pulled her into a hug. He'd barely known Tommy's Yellow Ranger for an hour, and yet the mentor to the original Dino Powers already knew she embodied the spirit of a Ranger, maybe more so than any of his female Rangers.

Kira could barely keep herself from shaking.

Here was her mentor's mentor...THE one who started the chain of Earth's Power Rangers, and she was rubbing shoulders with him!

"Tommy wanted to know if you wanted something to eat," Zordon said. "He'd like to make up his recent hostile behavior, and we've barely had anything to eat tonight. Rocky's already clamoring for food."

"Yeah, what's up with that kid?" Kira said. "I swear, he and Conner were separated at birth, they're so alike. But yeah, I wouldn't mind something to eat."

"OK, then. Tommy's making a sandwich line. What do you like?"

"I like a BLT. You know what that is, right?"

"I believe you Earthlings call them bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches," Zordon said. "I'll tell Tommy to fix one up."

Suddenly, Kira heard footsteps outside. Moving away from the window so as not to be noticed, she beckoned Zordon to turn around.

"Wait a minute!" Kira said as Zordon was leaving the room. "Did you hear that?"

"Yes, I thought I heard foosteps too," Zordon said. "Can you see what's outside without being seen yourself?"

"Yeah," Kira said. She leaned towards the window, and then turned back to the legendary Eltarian, hoping for answers.

"It's these guys in gray," Kira said. "And they have these big Zs on their chest."

Zordon groaned. He knew all too well what that meant.

"Those are called Putties," Zordon said. "I wouldn't worry about it though. If you liked beating up on Tyrannodrones, you'll love these guys. Besides, you'll be getting your Ninja Powers within the next few days, so you'll be OK against them. The Tengas were much harder to defeat for my Rangers, and yet they always did well against them."

"Beating up drones was my favorite part," Kira said, "so I don't doubt what you say."

Mesogog's Island Fortress

"Hehehehe," said Scorpina, smirking evilly as she did so.

"What's that?" said Zedd.

"The Rangers don't even know I sent the Putties out to find where Tommy is," Scorpina said evilly. "I could have sent them to grab Tommy...poor guy is out there on his grill, but I decided to wait and take them by surprise."

"Excellent work, Scorpina," Zedd said, smiling. "You're much better at the element of surprise than I, or even Goldar, could be. You have done well. We should attack them soon, before they get any powers."

"I regret to inform you that Ninjor is there," Scorpina said. "We will have to move fast."

"Indeed we will. We must attack before any sort of Rangers get any sort of powers."

9:45 p.m.

"I still can't believe," Kira said, "that I'm rubbing shoulders with the originals...the ones that started it all. I thought it was a rush when I became a Ranger...I thought it was even better when I met Adam, Tanya and Matthew, but this is...unreal."

"Hey, it's the television!" said Rocky. "Listen! I thought I just heard something about Kimberly!"

Tommy had satellite television, and could easily pick up HBO, so that's where he had the channel at this point.

"...and tomorrow's version of On the Record with Bob Costas will feature an in-depth interview with one of the United States' up and coming gymnasts, Kimberly Hart. Hart, a University of Florida graduate and star in gymnastics at Florida..."

"BOOOOO!" said Rocky. "I went to Florida State for graduate school! It sucks...to be...a Florida Gator!"

"You mean, Free Sneaker University? The school with the old washed up football coach, Bobby Buffoon, who can't win big games anymore?" said Justin.

"QUIET!" bellowed Tommy.

"...this is a story you do not want to miss. This is the only in-depth interview Miss Hart has granted in her time as an up and coming gymnast. It will air tomorrow evening at 9 p.m. eastern, and 6 p.m. on the West Coast."

The commercial ended, and Tommy continued flipping right through the channels.

"Justin, I'd watch my back if I was you," Kira said, grinning. "Rocky looks mighty pissed that you made that comment about Florida State."

"Well, they suck," said Justin. "How much more bluntly can I put it than that?"

"You are so going to pay for your comments tonight, Justin," said Rocky. "One of these days I'm going to tomahawk-chop/clock you so hard you can't see straight."

"I doubt Justin's scared of you any more, Rocky," said Adam. "I mean, have you SEEN the guy tonight? He ain't just some skinny, shaggy kid. He looks like he could take on anyone. Besides, he's way smarter than you as well."

"Not you too, frog man!" said Rocky, as he steamed over to the sandwich counter.

Nearby, Mystic Mother and Zordon were laughing their butts off.

"Still the same Jason replacement," said Mystic Mother. "It's gonna take an entire ice freezer to cool this guy off."

"I swear, he thinks it's cool when he makes some comment, and then he gets angry when that same comment is made about him," said Zordon. "He's a live wire, that's for sure."

Soon after, Rocky began yelling "BACK-BACK-BACK-BACK-BACK...GONE!" in his best Chris Berman impersonation.

Everybody was cracking up laughing at that one.

"I think he's been watching too much Baseball Tonight," said Zordon.

Back in the kitchen, Kira was now engaged in deep conversation with Ninjor.

"Do we need to get our powers right away?" Kira said. "I mean, you never know what will come up."

"No," Ninjor said. "Not tonight, and certainly not tomorrow. I think we should watch the interview tomorrow on HBO first. It will be interesting. From what I understand, Costas is a supreme sports reporter and interviewer. I think it's important to see the emotion, anguish, worry on her face as she goes through every part of her day...as every day just haunts her and drives her that much more."

Mesogog's Island Fortress

Unknown Time

"Scorpina, is it time?"

"Yes it is, Thrax. The Rangers are in the perfect position for an ambush. Without powers, too."

"Then send the Putties, immediately!"

Tuesday, July 21, 2004

11:30 a.m. local time

Reefside Park

Reefside, CA

"So you got to know the elder Rangers? Way cool!" said Conner to Kira as the four former Ranger teens and Justin walked through Reefside Park. Tommy had invited Justin to actually get out and breathe Earth's air again, so he was opening himself towards the teens.

"Yeah, Kira got to know us guys," said Justin. "And I made a crack on Florida State."

"You did WHAT?" said Trent.

"I won't explain, lest our enemies be listening," said Kira. "Suffice to say some former love of Tommy's is a Gator grad. And apparently Rocky's from Florida State."

"Well, good for Justin, because this soon to be Trojan can't stand FSU," said Conner.

"LOOK OUT!" shouted Trent as he ducked a sudden punch.

All of a sudden, dozens of Lord Zedd's famous Putty Patrollers came flying out of the sky, and the Rangers found themselves surrounded.

"The hell are these guys?" said Conner.

"Zedd's Putty Patrollers!" said Justin and Kira, simultaneously. "Hit the Z on their chest!"

15 minutes later, the Rangers, though they found it difficult, dispatched of Zedd's Putties.

"Let's go get Hayley," said Conner, "and get back to base."

12:30 p.m.

One hour following the attack, the Dino Thunder Rangers sat in Tommy's base, telling their account of the story.

"So Zedd's Putties are back," said Tommy, scratching his chin. "Not exactly the news I'd desire to hear."

"And that probably means that other aliens are back that I don't care to ever see again."

"I'd be willing to bet that Goldar and Scorpina are back," said Mystic Mother, "and possibly some of Zedd's henchmen too."

"I wanted to wait, but I don't think we have a choice," said Jason. "If they're going to get powers, they better go now."

"I never wanted them to have go through this so early," said Tommy, "but I don't think we have a choice."

"Guys," Tommy said, turning to face his team, "are you truly ready for what you're about to face? Because where you're going, the weak do not survive. It is possible to claim these powers, but you will have to prove yourselves."

"We're not chopped liver, Tommy," said Conner. "We are high school graduates now, and we were good enough to beat Mesogog the first time."

"Conner," Tommy said, sighing, "it would be easy to be confident now, but do not think for one second the quest you're going on will be an easy one. It will be the hardest quest you'll ever have."

"Tommy, lighten up," said Adam. "They're perfectly capable kids. You're making way more out of that Desert of Despair thing than you need to."

"I...I know. It's...just that they are my kids," said Tommy. "I'm their Zordon. I get concerned about them."

"Just like I was with you when you went to the Desert," said Zordon. "Fear not. These kids embody the spirits of my Rangers more than any team since my death. One more thing...Hayley and Justin should go too."

Justin didn't look shocked, but Hayley was aghast.

"Me...a Ranger????" said Hayley, aghast.

"Hey, way I figure, it's worth a shot," said Tommy. "Justin and Ninjor can train you if the Powers do find you worthy. You should go. I'll look after the place."

"OK, then it's settled. The six of us go, and the old geezers stay," said Conner.

Kira nodded. "Teleport us, guys."

"Hold still," said Mystic Mother. She began chanting in an indistinguishable language.

The five teenagers, Hayley and Ninjor felt teleportation wash over them, and they disappeared.

The next moment, the six landed in the infamous Desert of Despair.

"Remember, this will not be an easy journey, Rangers. Are you ready?" said Ninjor.

"We are."

"Good luck. I will not be able to accompany you. You will have to accomplish this mission on your own. Remember...the world, and a certain Crane competing for the Olympics, are counting on you. May the Power protect you," said Ninjor as he disappeared.

TBC...


	4. 4: Of Confrontations and TV Shows

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas.

A/N 2: I am SO sorry I haven't had updates lately. Apologies abound. I've been swamped but somehow I've found a spark of creativity amongst it all, so here's my latest.

Chapter 4: Of Confrontations and TV Shows

Tuesday, July 21, 2004

4:30 p.m.

Tommy Oliver's Residence

Reefside, CA

"You're looking dreamy," said Rocky, all the while looking at Aisha. "I think you've got a crush on someone. Come on, spill the beans!"

Most of the old gang was lounging in Tommy's living room, except for Adam and Tanya (who were taking care of Matthew), Zordon and Mystic Mother, who were both in Tommy's basement keeping an eye for any problems.

"I do NOT look dreamy, Rocky DeSantos!" said Aisha, raising her hands in protest.

"Um, I'm with Rocky on this one, Sha," said Billy. "You've had this dreamy, and worried, look in your eyes since last night. Please, tell us what's going on."

Aisha would never admit it for the world, but the former second Yellow Ranger had been attracted, at first glance, to the youngest Power Ranger in history. One glance at the former Blue Turbo Ranger, and Aisha simply couldn't take her eyes off him.

'_My God, he is cute_,' thought Aisha as she continued to recline, all the while positively annoyed that her former teammates wouldn't get off her case. '_And he's got a lot of courage to try and be the one to be there for Kim, while the rest of us were in the dark_._ I don't even know the kid, but he seems to have grown up a lot since he was with the Turbo team_.'

"On another topic, since Aisha doesn't want to talk about her secret crush," said Rocky, "has anyone noticed Mystic Mother acting really weird today?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," said Billy. "Every time she and Adam are within shouting distance of each other, it's like she avoids him like the plague. I don't get it either."

"Yeah, what's the reason for that?" said Aisha. "Even when she was evil, she never really did anything hurtful to him."

Unbeknownst to them, Adam was off in the shadows...having left Tanya to take care of Matthew, listening to every word his friends were saying.

And like his friends, he didn't understand the avoidance tactics by the Rangers' former archenemy.

Silently, he headed downstairs, knowing that the two elders of the operation would be there, keeping an eye for any evil.

Tommy's Lair

"Well, I think my son and his crew are about to call it quits for the day," Mystic Mother said. "Thank God. My blood pressure rose when I heard about the Putties' attack in the park."

"Yeah, but at least we have six on the way to get some powers," said Zordon. "Then we can work out flight arrangements. Wasn't there someone who was gonna order pizza for the crew tonight?"

"I believe Tommy was doing that," Mystic Mother said, as Zordon nodded, turned and left to check on the progress of Tommy's order.

After Zordon left, Mystic Mother then turned her thoughts to another place, and muttered, "You know, I really should go back to my palace on the Moon and move a lot of my stuff here. It's not safe up there...I know for a fact that Zedd and Thrax will try to storm it at some point."

"Why leave now? The party's just getting started," came a voice from the stairs.

The Rangers' former enemy turned to her right, and the color drained from her face when she saw Adam standing on the stairs.

"Hey, it's OK," said Adam, trying to hide the worry in his voice. "It's obvious you're scared of me...even my friends know it. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong. Please, tell me why you're trying to run from me. I wouldn't hurt a soul."

'_I guess...I guess I'm not going to be able to run from this forever_,' she thought as Adam took her in his arms. '_God, I hope he doesn't kill me for this_.'

"I guess...I guess I don't know how else to tell you this," she began, "but when...when I was my other half...many moons before I ever confronted the Rangers of Earth..."

Adam nodded, urging her to go on, having a feeling that what she was crying about stemmed from when she was Rita Repulsa.

"I...I created the heartless soul you know as Scorpina," she said, letting her tears rain anew. "And because of that, I feel like I indirectly hurt you. When I never had any intention of doing so. After I returned from my dumpster and had married Zedd for awhile, I heard about what happened with you and her. I found that so deplorable, even by evil's standards, that I kicked her out of the palace and told her never to come back...so that she could never hurt you again."

"It sounds like you never wanted to see me hurt in the first place. Why? That's not how evil does things, you know."

"Because even by evil's standards, I thought you were, and are, a likeable man. I always had soft spots for you and Tommy. Tommy because he was my Ranger once upon a time, and then you because of the absolute pure goodness of your soul...even being an old, evil, crass witch, it was hard not to look at you and just say that this is a hell of a man."

"What do you think of my wife?"

"I adore Tanya," Mystic Mother said. "Absolutely adore her. I was so happy when I heard you two got married. You two are the perfect match...just like Kim and Tommy were once upon a time, and hopefully will be again. Matthew is adorable, by the way."

"Future Power Ranger, and don't you forget it," said Adam. "But all I can say is, if that's your biggest regret, then you don't have much to worry about. Can I ask a question though?"

"Shoot."

"Was she brought back?"

"Actually, she never left. Turns out she was the one to take care of my son when Zordon's Wave came through the universe."

"Well, all I can say is, hopefully I'll be in Greece by the time the bad guys next attack."

"If we continue to have problems, you may not be in Greece," came a familiar voice.

"Ninjor, Justin, what are you two doing here?" said Adam as he turned to look at the two, who were standing behind him.

"For whatever reason, he ended up in the Temple of Power without having to go through any quests, which I found strange," said Ninjor. "But I went through and tried to infuse him with the Ninja Power...and it wouldn't work. He's really disappointed...feels like he's failed."

"Rangers and guilt complexes...when do they ever end?" said Adam. "Justin, don't forget that sometimes fate has a different plan for you."

"Yeah, I guess," said Justin, "but I'm still disappointed."

"You know, I'm wondering if fate isn't calling Billy back to action," said Mystic Mother. "I mean, Trini's death, a fellow Blue can't take the Ninja Powers, that Blue was there for Kim..."

"I think you've got a point. We can worry about that first thing tomorrow," said Adam. "How are the others doing?"

"They are going through their trials, but they are doing quite well," Ninjor said. "We hope those five will be able to be done in the next couple of days."

"I see," said Mystic Mother.

"HEY GUYS! PIZZA'S HERE!" bellowed Tommy from upstairs.

"You guys enjoy your pizza. I'm going to go back and move my Palace before it gets stormed," Mystic Mother said.

"Very well. We'll see you later tonight," Justin said.

6:01 p.m.

"OK, guys. Here it comes," said Rocky.

"Brace yourselves. This is not going to be pretty," said Zordon.

"Did you say earlier that she will reveal tonight that she was a Power Ranger?" said Tommy.

"Yes," Zordon said. "I asked her to do it. She can't hide from her past anymore."

"Will she reveal us too?" said Aisha.

"You'll just have to wait and see," said Mystic Mother.

As the intro for On the Record finished, the face of famed sports reporter Bob Costas could be seen on screen...live from Athens, Greece.

"Is this interview taped?" said Adam.

"Yep," said Zordon.

"Welcome to another edition of On the Record, I'm Bob Costas, live from Athens, Greece. Tonight, we will take you inside one of the most harrowing , terrifying stories to ever happen to a recent Olympic athlete. 25-year old United States gymnast Kimberly Hart will talk to us about her career, and what she's had to overcome to get to this point."

With those words, everyone present around Tommy's television became deathly silent, including Tommy himself.

The interview actually went pretty smoothly at first, as the famed NBC and HBO sports journalist asked her about her current life, how she was training to get ready for the Olympics, etc. But what Tommy saw in those first few shots of Kimberly horrified him.

When they'd said goodbye in the early months of 1996...when Kimberly had stepped on that plane to chase her dreams, she was full of life and an inspiration to everyone she met.

Now, she was barely a shell of her former self. Though she seemed comfortable around Costas, she still had the sense of alertness about her, like she was still being watched.

She was almost...robotic, and that was not how most of the Rangers remembered their friend.

By two commercial breaks after the beginning of the show...about thirty minutes in, Tommy's heart was breaking. He knew Kimberly had deserved none of what happened to her. What he would see next would astound him.

Presently, Tommy managed a brief smile at one of the things Kimberly was talking about...the unity of the team.

"_We're not selfish_," Kimberly said. "_I think I speak from experience when I say that the best teams don't turn on one another. The moment a team turns on one another...the moment the egos become bigger than the team, then you no longer have a team_."

"_So how DO you keep your team together, if that's the most important thing for success_?" Costas said.

"_I think we're very fortunate that we have a lot of girls who love the sport, and love their country all at the same time. I have been doing gymnastics since kindergarten. It is something I love to do...the only thing that might come close to it is going to the mall, which, sadly, I don't do enough of anymore_."

"Man, I really need to straighten her out," muttered Aisha. "If she's not going to the mall anymore..."

"_You know,_" said Costas, "_you almost seem like a person who's had a loved one ripped away from you...and you sound like someone who's frantically looking for answers to the problem_."

"_Oh, if only you knew how right you are_," Kimberly said.

"_If you don't mind me asking_," said Costas, "_could you tell me about your loved one. Remember, you don't have to answer the question._"

"_Of course I will_," said Kim. "_His name was...and is...Tommy Oliver...the only man I'll ever love_."

All of a sudden, when Tommy's name was mentioned, pictures started flashing from the 'good old days' as Tommy liked to call them...when everything seemed so innocent...of him and Kimberly...at dances, at school, at the old Angel Grove Juice Bar, at Angel Grove Park. He paid no attention to the fact that Kimberly had still been talking.

"_So, if you don't mind me asking, what happened for you to be taken away from him_?"

Then, Kimberly started explaining what happened with Rick, and how her life had changed since. All the while, several pictures of a rape scene were depicted...where a man with a wide body, black hair, and huge hands and legs was literally tearing Kimberly to pieces.

'_All I can say is_,' thought Tommy, '_that bastard better be glad he's not alive, because if he was, I'd go looking for his address in a second_.'

Then, bloody shootings were depicted in Switzerland and France. The first picture was Caroline and her husband in Paris, the second was of Trini in Geneva.

"That bastard killed everyone close to her...just because he wanted some damn sex!" muttered Rocky in a menacing voice. "How dare he!"

"_So that's...how it happened_," Kimberly said, all the while literally in tears. "_I was forced to send Tommy a breakup letter...knowing it was the only reasonable way to keep him safe! I don't know if he is safe or not_!"

"_I must say, Kimberly, this is the first time on this show I've had someone outright cry on camera_," Costas said.

The show went to one more commercial break shortly thereafter, and Costas was about set to wrap up shortly after that.

"_Kimberly, in all my time covering sports, there have been few interviews I have done better than this one. It has been a pleasure having you here with me to talk about your life, as well as the Olympics_," Costas said. "_Is there anything else you would like to say_?"

"_Yes_," Kimberly said, "_and it's gong to go way off the beaten path. Do you remember the Power Rangers in Angel Grove_?"

Costas nodded...while he covered many sports, he'd also heard of the Rangers' exploits, and had admired them secretly.

"_What about it_?" Costas said. The words Kimberly uttered next was a total shock to the veteran sports broadcaster.

"_I was one of them. I was Earth's Original Pink Power Ranger_."

Kimberly next told the story of how the Rangers originated in 1993, thanks to Zordon, and how Kimberly had been a part of the team for three years before leaving to chase her dream...and she told the story of how Zordon died to save the universe in 1998.

"_I understand that the media would try to hound me for this, but all I ask is that they please have some respect for my privacy. I think what I learned most from fighting alien forces for three years is what it takes to become a true leader and champion._"

"_Well, I have tons of respect for you, Olympian and former Power Ranger Hart. Take care of yourself and we'll see you in Greece_."

"_Thanks, Bob. You too_. _By the way, Rocky, if you're out there...don't forget that it's always great to be a Florida Gator_."

"Wow," said Adam as Tommy shut the television off. By this time, there was not one dry eye in the room. "Just...wow. She looks battered, broken and lost. We have to help her."

"Key word being 'we,'" Tommy said. "I can't help her alone. I can lend her all the support I can but it's got to be a group effort."

"When someone messes with one of our own," Jason said, grim look on his face, "he messes with us all. We'll show the world that no one messes with our friend."

10:00 p.m.

Justin was just getting ready for bed that night...the end of what was, for him, a very sad day.

He'd been glad Kimberly had acted like she still loved Tommy, but it had hurt seeing his teammates cry over something he'd known for a while.

Then there was the fact he'd been able to receive no Ninja Powers. That one stung him just as much.

"Now what will we do?" he muttered aloud. "Normally teams are at their best when there are six people. We'll have only five at best."

Suddenly, he heard three raps on his door, and decided to go see who was doing the rapping.

When he opened the door, he was face-to-face with the second Yellow Ranger.

"Hi," said Aisha. "Mind if I come in?"

"Sure," said Justin. "After today, I could really use a friend."

"I can imagine," said Aisha, giving him a bright smile and extending her hand. "I'm Aisha, by the way. We've never formally met."

"It's nice to meet you," said Justin, accepting her handshake and becoming somewhat surprised when Aisha somewhat tightened her grip and used her hand to bring him closer, shortly after which they walked to Justin's bed and sat down.

"Pardon me if I'm a little nervous that the second Yellow Ranger is across from me right now. I know how Yellows can be as I was around Ashley and Tanya for several months, so I don't want to make a bad first impression."

"Sweetie, there is no way in HELL you could make a bad first impression on me. I don't care that you're only 18, as you've done things that someone who's near 30 like me can only dream of doing. The way you walk, think, talk and act is absolutely amazing to me."

"I had to mature fast being around the four veterans at the start," said Justin, "and then actually mentoring to the rookies after the first Turbo team left. And all the while, I had Kimberly on the back of my mind. Seriously, when I went to battle, I felt I was fighting for Kimberly and everyone else who had worn a Ranger uniform. I always felt I owed them a responsibility...because they'd protected the Earth once upon a time, I should too. That's why I was shattered when the Turbo Powers were destroyed by Divatox. I had to get away from being a Ranger because I'd felt I let Zordon down."

"We've lost battles too, Justin," said Aisha, giving him a slight smile, which grew even wider as put his free arm on her shoulder. "We lost Zords when Rito Revolto destroyed them in a vicious fight many years ago. The first team nearly had their Zords destroyed when Tommy was fighting them. Every Ranger team in history has had at least one catastrophe happen, and has found a way to persevere still."

"I know that now, but I didn't know it then," said Justin. "So, you're one of Kim's best friends?"

"Yup. Was, and still am. Justin, I've known Kim for years. She wouldn't let someone intimately in her life unless it was a person of character. I think the fact that she let you in her life without hesitation says a lot about you. One thing I know about Kim...when you're in her best friends circle, you never leave. She is fiercely loyal to her best friends, and I'm privileged to be one of them. You should feel that way too."

"Oh, I do, there's no doubt about it," said Justin. "You know, I'm wondering if the fates didn't have a different plan for me rather than taking the Ninja Powers."

"They almost always do, Justin," said Aisha. "That's the one thing you have to learn about the Power. You don't choose it...it chooses you. Who'd have ever thought Tanya would be taking my place at one point? Who'd have thought Kat would be evil, then take Kim's place? You shouldn't feel like you failed at that mission."

"I know, and that's where the 18-year old part of me takes over," Justin said. "I know I'm better than that but I have to act like it."

"Yes, but you're far beyond most kids your age," Aisha said. "By the way, have I told you yet that you're a real sweetheart, and that you're really growing on me only within a day's time?"

"I get that a lot from girls in Boston, actually," Justin said. "But to hear the second Yellow Ranger say it takes on a new kind of meaning."

"Flattery will get you a lot of places, young man," Aisha said. "Now, I have a surprise for you."

"What is that?" Justin said.

"This." Aisha pulled him closer and pressed her lips against his, capturing them in a fiery, passionate kiss which left Justin a tad surprised, and his senses reeling.

"Wow," he said. "I've never felt anything like that. I suppose I should try to come up with a topper for that."

By this time, she'd let go of his other hand, so he placed his arms on both her shoulders, cupped his hands to her face and kissed her right back, which he was actually able to hold longer than hers.

She smiled as he'd actually managed to top her kiss...it was turning into a little game of 'can you top this.'

By the time the two had finished trading kisses two or three times more, Aisha had the former Blue Turbo Ranger pressed tightly against her, arms wrapped around him tightly.

"My God, what a night," Justin said. "I thought my day had gone in the crapper and then you show up. Thanks for being here for me. I may have found my other half."

"Anyone who Kim considers important is important in my book," Aisha said. "You deserve this after all you've done. Can I stay with you tonight?"

"Do you really think I'm going to say no to that?" Justin said. "My mind is reeling, begging for you to stay with me! What choice do I have?"

"Don't you see, now Justin? I'm a positive person, and I believe there's a silver lining to every failure that exists in this world. Hey, can I go get my nightclothes on? I'll come back soon."

"Do what you have to do. Besides, I gotta take care of my hygiene too."

"Very well. See you soon," Aisha said. After kissing his cheek once more, she left the room quietly. As she left the room, she didn't notice Adam, Tommy, Rocky and Jason standing outside the room, stunned in silence.

"Uh, wow," said Jason. "I guess Justin's hit the bigtime. I didn't even know Aisha had a crush on him."

"Tell me about it," Rocky said. "I mean, he just got here yesterday!"

"Actually, I'm not that surprised, and it's because of color combinations. Yellow and Blue always go well together...remember that Trini and Billy had something when I was there," said Tommy. "Aisha's a glue girl, and Justin's the ultimate nerd. I just hope they have better luck than me and a certain TV star."

"Hey, remember what Sha said, Bro," said Jason. "There's a light at the end of every tunnel. She still wants you back, Tommy...didn't you watch the thing tonight? You're gonna have to fight to get her back, but if anyone can do it, that person would be you. Kim has NEVER stopped loving you...of that I am convinced."

"You're right, I still have to believe. Well, I'm pooped. I'm gonna crash. Have a nice night, guys," Tommy said.

"Night, bro," said Jason as Tommy departed. "Let's go, guys, before Aisha or Justin notice us. Let's let them have their time.

"I agree. Let's go get drunk or something," said Rocky as the rest of the group also dispersed.

Temple of Power

Ninjor was watching his new proteges, and was impressed.

Already two were close to passing their tests, and the others were coming along very nicely.

"Soon, very soon," Ninjor said, "new Ninjas will be born. Then, the world will be safe once again."

TBC...


	5. 5: New Ninjas and Thrax's Plan

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

Chapter 5-New Ninjas and Thrax's Plan

Mesogog's Island Fortress

Unknown Time

"Lord Zedd. Lord Thrax," Scorpina said as she came and bowed before Zedd and his son. "I have news to report."

"Very well," Zedd said. "What do you have, Scorpina?"

"Those idiot kids of Tommy's have completed Ninja quests and now have their own Ninja powers," Scorpina said. "I know it's something none of us like to hear, but I just wanted to pass that along."

"Is that all?" Thrax said.

"Yes. That is all, my lords," Scorpina said as she hurried from the room, knowing better than to be around Zedd or Thrax when angry.

"Why the hell didn't you go after them?" Zedd shouted. "Why didn't you go after somebody?"

"All part of my plan," Thrax said. "Have you ever heard of Dulcea?"

Zedd's face immediately formed a smile that would have made any being of light cringe. He was also surprised that Thrax knew about Dulcea - Zedd knew of her accomplishments, but he didn't know if Thrax knew about her. He'd wanted to know how good Dulcea - who was the Master of the Ninjetti - would be when evil.

Now, he might get his chance.

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"Yes, dear Father," Thrax said. "Let them get fat on their 'accomplishment' for about a week, and let those veterans get on that plane to Greece. In the meantime, I use one of my spells to turn that do-gooder to our side, and break that spell that binds her to that wasteland Phaedos. I intend to use her to destroy the Rangers - both the kids and the veterans - as well as Earth. We can't get Ninjor, but I'm not worried about that big blue dolt. Dulcea's a far better fighter. Then, when those kids don't have the help of the veterans, we use Dulcea to destroy them. Those inexperienced kids stand no chance against Dulcea."

Zedd jumped out of his chair with glee. Thrax had proven that he was indeed as smart as his father, and just as sadistic too.

"I like it, son! I like it a lot! Those kids of Tommy's won't know what hit them!"

"One other thing, Father."

"Yes?"

"Revive Impursonator. Kind of as an insurance policy. That way we'll have two of em those kids can't beat. If the vets can't beat Kat's overgrown accessory, then neither will the kids."

"Wonderful plan, Thrax! You know how to play the game as well as I do!"

"Thank you, Father."

Wednesday, July 22, 2004

8:00 a.m.

1492 Valencia Drive

Reefside, CA

Justin Stewart opened his eyes to find two comforting arms wrapped around him, and Aisha's smiling face mere inches away from his. Despite the fact that she'd held him, kissed him, done whatever, he'd been wondering all night if this was real.

Now he could believe it.

And he knew something else.

That there was no escape. That the veteran Yellow Ranger was holding him in such a way that he knew he couldn't possibly turn this down, and that she had him trapped.

But in his mind, he wasn't so sure that was a bad thing because her presence was becoming more and more intoxicating by the second. They'd help Kimberly in time - when they could get on a plane. But for the moment, that was the furthest thing from their minds.

"Thank you," she said in a soothing voice.

"Huh?"

"For everything you've done with regards to Kim," she murmured, while giving him her brightest, most vibrant smile. "For taking care of her. For becoming such an important figure in her life. For giving her hope when she had no reason to believe. You just don't have a clue what that means to me."

"I should expect that it means a lot to you - you've been friends forever," he said. "Question is, now that you're holding me, what happens now? I have never been in a real relationship but it appears you want one. I love a girl like you that has substance AND style - but this is like a whirlwind."

"For now, slow down and just give me a chance - let me in. There's no timetable here."

"Thanks for being patient - you're such a wonderful alternative from Ashley and Cassie - so vibrant, so talented and so selfless," Justin said. "Ashley, Cassie and I never got along much even though we were teammates - I always privately thought they were both bratty - and I was somewhat surprised that Dimitria didn't call for some replacements at some point. Now I get to be a witness as to what class is all about."

"Respect and love aren't things bought - they're earned. You've earned both of them, which is why I am here holding you right now. I don't understand why Ashley and Cassie wouldn't like you - was that part of why you didn't go into space with them?"

"That decision was more about Kimberly and my guilt, but if I'd thought of it then - yeah that would have been another reason. Both are no doubt great female Rangers, but they're just not my cup of tea. Tanya and Kat were and are fine. Ashley and Cassie - not so much."

"You know," Aisha said as she flashed him a smile that made him blush, "the more I hear about this Dimitria woman you just talked about, the less I like her. Adam and Tommy did nothing but call me to gripe about her following Astronema's attack. Was she the one that made the other four give up their powers?"

"Yeah, she was. I thought 'WHAT'?" Justin said. "I couldn't believe it. I truly believe if those four had stayed, we'd have beaten Divatox. Can't take it back now."

"If Zordon had been in charge, I guarantee there is no way they would have left, Justin," Aisha said firmly, her face hardening. "Zordon didn't make Kim leave the team - I was there. She chose to go. If I ever see Dimitria, I will give her a piece of my mind."

"Oh, trust me, Zordon's been wanting to do that for years," Justin said. "But if there's one thing I know about Zordon, he has too much decorum to go verbally sucker-punch a friend like Dimitria. Just like I'm smart enough to realize that I can't come out and verbally sucker-punch my ex-teammates even though I didn't like some of the things they did - especially since Ashley and Cassie could kick my ass to the next county."

"I get it," was Aisha's response. "You respected them as teammates, but just could never get your arms around them as people."

"Yeah, that's it. Just could never get my arms around them like I could Tommy and the four who taught me. To me, you guys are like rockstars. Do you know how much I'd love to just sit around and soak up the way you guys do things?"

"I have fought three of the toughest adversaries any Power Ranger team will ever face. They were Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, and Master Vile. They came up with schemes beyond your wildest dreams. That explosive bicycle that Tommy tells me Divatox allegedly got you for your birthday - that was CHILD's play compared to Zedd. I've been through it. I've seen it. I've been to places I never thought I'd be, and I am 25 to 30 years old. The way you have conducted yourself throughout this whole ordeal with Kimberly has made me proud to be a Power Ranger. Trust me when I say you'll get along just fine with the rest of us."

"Do you think Trini would be proud of me?"

"I knew Trini," Aisha said. "Trust me when I say that she'd be more than proud of you if she were here right now."

"Can I ask you what you do for a living?" Justin said. "You should know as much as me that being a Ranger has never lent itself to a salary."

"I don't mind at all," Aisha said, as she allowed Justin's hands to wrap around to her back and smiled at his soft touch. Indeed, she had a crush and was just as trapped.

"You'd be surprised to know that I'm a very elite lawyer working here on the West Coast. I used to take care of animals for a living, until I went back to the States and went to college. Something about the field of law just appealed to me. I assure you I'm not your typical egotistical lawyer. Now, what about you?"

"I'm a student at MIT in Boston," Justin said. "I'm involved in computer science. One day I hope to get enough expertise to work with many computers, including the ones here that Tommy has. I'm also an adopted child."

"Man, you have overcome a lot," Aisha said as she let Justin kiss her softly. "I'd say I'm proud of you, but that's truly an understatement."

"Mmmmm," Justin muttered as the wonderful smell of breakfast reached their noses. "I smell breakfast - without Rocky. This ought to be good."

"I actually believe you are right," she said, pressing her lips against his once more. "Let's go. Wouldn't want to miss our chance at a breakfast without Rocky."

The two headed towards the kitchen, and had no roadblocks until they got to the doorstep.

"Stop right there, geezers," came a voice from the kitchen doorway.

"Uh oh," Justin mouthed as he turned to find five newly minted Ninjas.

The middle one was Conner, dressed in green with the emblem of an eagle on his chest. To his left stood Kira, clad in orange with the emblem of a hawk on her chest. Next was Ethan, standing to Conner's right, dressed in gray with the emblem of a ram. To Ethan's right was Trent, dressed in gold with the emblem of a tiger. And then there was - Hayley, dressed in purple with the emblem of a unicorn.

Justin's face molded into one that wanted to teach these youngsters a verbal lesson. He glanced at Aisha, who nodded and smiled as if to say, '_Go ahead_.'

"What's the matter, lovebirds?" Conner mocked. "Can't get past a roadblock to your food?"

At that point, Kira looked at her teammates, and seeing that they were up to mischief - about to possibly use their powers for personal gain - she decided that was enough, as she demorphed and left.

Aisha flashed her a smile, as if to say, '_You did the right thing, girl_.' As Kira walked off, however, Conner muttered, "traitor."

A comment which set Justin off.

"OK, you asked for it," Justin said. "You think you're SOOOOOO tough when morphed. First of all, you shouldn't even BE morphed right now. How the hell long have you been here?"

"Uh, 30 minutes," Conner said.

"Exactly my point, noob," Justin said. "All you're trying to do is show off to the world that you're Rangers again. Didn't you guys learn from the first time?"

"Learn WHAT?" Trent said.

"Gee, Tommy told me you were more sensible than he was, Fernandez," Justin snapped. "You don't go around being Power Rangers by showing off your new colors for 30 minutes after you've been back from quests you're supposed to LEARN from!"

"And just WHAT authority do you think you have?" Hayley snapped. "You're only 18 years old! You and that washed up attraction of yours couldn't beat us!"

"How dare you call me washed up!" Aisha said as her eyes narrowed and she glared at Hayley. "I may not have been a Ranger in eight years, but I can take any of you noobies any day. I bet you couldn't even beat Bulk and Skull in a fight, rookie."

"Damn right, they wouldn't," Justin muttered, remembering the two former bullies who had somehow grown up and now ran their own business back home.

"And as for Justin, you leave him the hell out of this! You, of ALL people, ought to know better than to underestimate ANY Ranger, no matter the age! Now get out of here - and demorph, by God - before we physically hurt you!"

""We give up," Conner muttered as the four walked off. "Thanks a lot for not being able to take a joke, assholes."

"Whoever calls one an asshole is an asshole himself, Conner," Justin said. "Right Aisha?"

At which she nodded, and the two headed into the kitchen, to a heavy round of applause from those inside the kitchen. Adam and Tanya were there, as Justin had predicted. Tanya was cooking omelettes like a pro on Iron Chef America, and Adam and Tommy were helping set breakfast up. Nearby, Ninjor and Zordon stood watching all of them closely.

"Thank God you two are up," Tanya muttered. "God, those kids of Tommy's - they've been preening around here like they OWN the place. We kicked them out right before you two got up. Kira, not so much, but God, Conner..."

"I've only been around for like a day or two, and I can already tell he's annoying," Justin said. "I'd have thought they'd know to act with a little more decorum with Zordon around. I wanted to smack Hayley in the face too for calling Aisha washed up."

"Hey now, careful there Justin," Tanya said. "Remember, without Hayley Tommy wouldn't have been able to create his team. I chalk her remark up to holding the Power for the first time and having too much adrenaline. She made a stupid remark, and I'll just leave it at that."

"Yeah, that was beyond stupid," Tommy muttered blankly. "I will have to talk to Hayley about that later. I don't understand why she made that remark other than first time with the Power."

"Possibly," Justin said. "I love the thought of food - with no Rocky."

"Someone go get Kira," said Adam. "Not those other kids, but Kira has enough decorum right now that she can join us. Remind her that we're fixing Tanya's mean omelettes."

Meanwhile...

Hayley was sitting on the porch, outside, demorphed.

For the first time in her life, she had just become a Power Ranger.

Yet, she couldn't have felt more embarassed. It was one thing for a guy to call out a girl Ranger. Yet, she'd somehow let the comment that Aisha was washed up, as well as the comment about Justin being only 18, slip.

Now, she was in tears. She knew she was going to get her ass kicked by one - or several - of the veterans. Moreover, she knew she deserved it.

Even worse was that she had no idea why she said it.

"You look awfully depressed, Ms. Johnson," came a voice from behind her - a voice which belonged to Zordon.

"Why the hell does it ALWAYS have to be this way?" said Hayley brokenly through tears, as she turned to face Zordon. "Why do I always keep putting myself in terrible situations? I go on a quest, have to face my greatest fear of being rejected because of my age, and now THIS happens?"

"I heard about what happened. You're in no trouble whatsoever, Ms. Johnson," Zordon said.

"Really?"

"Really. Just believe me," Zordon said, as he left to go back inside. "Things like this can happen the first time you hold the Power. Some times you do things that wouldn't normally happen, especially the first time you have the Power. Don't let it ruin your day."

"Really, Hayley, it's OK," said Billy. "Some of us have said some things we regret also. You're not perfect, but neither are we."

"Billy, what the hell are you doing here?" Hayley said through broken tears. "Haven't you had anything to eat yet?"

"My breakfast is right here," Billy said, pointing to his serving from Tanya's omelette line. "Want a bite?"

"Oh what the hell. I guess," Hayley muttered. As she bit into the bite Billy offered her, she nodded her head.

"I like this," Hayley said. "Who the hell made these?"

"Tanya," Billy said. "Rumor had it that her omelettes are wicked good. I think that billing has been lived up to. Want me to go get you some?"

"Would you please?" Hayley said. "God, I'm starving but I know better than to go in there right now."

When Hayley had placed her order for what she wanted, Billy went inside. Soon, he came back out with a steaming omelette, covered in cheese, green peppers, onions, smothered in Tabasco sauce.

"Mmmmmm," Hayley said. "Just the way I like it. Am I impeding on you?"

"No, don't worry - it's quite all right. Believe me, you're doing the right thing by not going in there."

"Oh, I know I'm doing the right thing. But I guess this is the next best thing - I get to enjoy the outside for a while. You know, we had a little party here the other night as you were getting ready to leave Aquitar - and I believe one of your friends wondered if a fish had eaten you on Aquitar."

"Probably Zack or Rocky," Billy said, chuckling lightly. "Zack's jokes are somewhat funny, but Rocky simply likes to be the center of attention. Hey, I saw your spirit animal."

"Yeah, a unicorn. What's up with that one? And what do you have to do with it?"

"When we piloted the Thunderzords back in the day, the animal I piloted was the unicorn," Billy said wistfully, recalling the days of fighting Zedd's seemingly unending batch of creations in the Thunder Megazord. "Unfortunately, Rita's - errr, Mystic Mother's - idiotic brother, Rito Revolto, had to trash those things. I hated to see those go, though Ninjor's been one of the best things to ever happen to me."

"So what the hell do I do now?" Hayley said. "I have no fighting skills - heck, I couldn't beat anyone in a fight."

"Trust me, that's all gonna take care of itself," Billy said. "You've got people here to help you. It's not going to be pretty at first - you're probably gonna get beat into the dirt several times over. But you have to stick with it. I'm a better martial artist than I used to be - heck, Ninjor claims I could probably go one-on-one with him today and not get my ass beat. Another Ninja type warrior from a distant planet, Dulcea, became close with me through Ninjor. None of the Rangers know her, but I do. She's one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen, yet she can beat anyone's ass any day. Yet, she claims I could beat her in a fight. But it didn't always used to be that way. I had no fighting skills when I first became a Ranger and I had to adapt - a lot."

"Sounds like you've improved a great deal," Hayley said. "Just curious, who's this Dulcea girl?"

"As I mentioned, she's a warrior similar to Ninjor. She's the Master Warrior of the Ninjetti, a race which has very similar qualities to the Ninja powers you now have. And as I said, most of the other guys don't know her. I do. But God, someone keep her away from Adam. I've shown her pictures of our team, and she thinks Adam's a knockout. I'd hate to see Dulcea and Tanya ever get in a pillowfight over Adam because both are strong-willed women."

"Sounds like a woman I don't want to have to fight," Hayley said. "Now the question is - what do I do about the rest of the team? Chances are they probably don't want to see me for a while."

"Just apologize," Billy said. "I know you didn't mean any harm - sometimes things just come out wrong. If you act sincere, they'll believe you. It's as simple as that."

"I accept your apology," came a voice to Hayley's left. "Thank you."

"Aisha, how did you find me?" Hayley said.

"The good doctor's worried about you," Aisha said. "Besides, I know you didn't mean any harm. Justin knows you probably didn't mean harm either. As Billy said, sometimes things come out bad. I can see your frustration. We're all growing closer to someone, and yet you're in the cold. I can see frustration written all over your face when you see someone acting all lovey-dovey like Justin and I were this morning. It's the mark of someone who's been left at the altar one too many times, and I for one would hate to be in your shoes."

"We're all rooting for you," Adam said. "Lord knows I was the shy one of our group till I met Tanya. God, I'd love to put a boot in Tommy's kids though."

"Yeah, I agree my kids could use a good ass kicking," Tommy said. "I've sent them away for a while with the exception of Kira. At least Kira learned from her quest - that she doesn't have to be the damsel in distress all the time. You'd have thought Conner would learn from having to go through insults of being a jock on his quest, that Trent would have learned from going through the quest of having to go through his fears from being evil, and that Ethan would have learned that he doesn't have to feel ostracized."

"Kira's a strong woman. I think she's the one out of our group that could beat any of these guys in hand to hand combat any day," Hayley said.

"I tend to agree with Hayley," Tommy said.

"Oh really?" Adam said. "One day, I'd like to find out about that."

"Hey, I say bring on the challenge," Kira said, as she bit into her omelette. "I can only get better fighting-wise from here. I say anyone, anytime, anywhere - bring it on. I can take a beating."

"I like someone like that - willing to take on a challenge even if you lose," Jason said. "Trini would be proud."

"God, these things are so good," Kira muttered as she took another bite. "Does Tanya watch the Food Network or something?"

"I think so. She likes Iron Chef, especially," said Justin as he came out with another plateful of breakfast. "She likes Mario Batali and Cat Cora - in fact, doesn't she have a couple of cookbooks from those two?"

"Yep," Adam said. "I got her those for one of our anniversary celebrations."

"When do you guys leave?" Kira said.

"Five days," Jason said. "I've booked our flight - we leave Monday for Athens."

Yet, they weren't aware of the onyx eyes watching them from the nearby forest.

The eyes belonging to Goldar, who would have news report to his masters.

"Soon, my friends, you shall be destroyed. You old geezers can go to Greece because we will still destroy you there after we get done with your friends. Very soon, the Earth shall be ours!"

TBC...


	6. 6: Heart to Hearts and Enter Dulcea

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: Past and Present Collide and Master Vile and the Pink Power no longer exist. Master Vile story was due to a growing lack of interest. Past and Present Collide was more of a precautionary thing. So both those stories are out.

A/N 3: There are some sports references in here. I also don't own the Red Sox, Patriots or Yankees, or anything affiliated with Major League Baseball or the National Football League.

Chapter 6-Heart to Hearts, Enter Dulcea

Friday, July 24, 2004

10:30 a.m. local time

Somewhere in Angel Grove Park

Angel Grove, CA

To any other onlooker, it would have been considered an odd mix of colors in an otherwise serene spot near Angel Grove Lake.

But everyone who had ever been assoicated with Zordon knew this to be false.

For twenty minutes, Justin Stewart, who had decided to make the 90-minute drive from Angel Grove that morning, just stopped and stared. Amazingly, though he'd spent his high school years in Angel Grove, he had never been to what Zordon's Earth family had called "The Spot."

And he simply stared in awe. THERE was the start of so many memories in a three year relationship now gone wrong. THERE was where Earth's first Green Ranger had found a silver lining in losing his powers - the first time. THERE was where Kimberly Hart had rescued Tommy from eternal depression and misery.

He could almost feel the ghosts of this relationship gone wrong running through his head. Tommy's tumultuous time as the Red Turbo Ranger. Kimberly revealing everything she had ever been through, and why she wrote The Letter. That - guy - who had stripped Kimberly of everything she considered precious, and his intentions to make her life hell before he died.

Trini's death, which rocked him to his core. Though he'd never met his new girlfriend's predecessor, he had seen Trini's credentials, and Billy had shown him plenty of footage on Trini on the way to Earth.

While these thoughts were deep and could break a person's psyche down, he was glad to have them in a way because it took his mind off the sports scene in Boston for a little while.

"Those bums called the Red Sox simply can't stand prosperity," he muttered to himself as he simply continued to stare at 'that' spot. "Good thing Tommy and I have the Patriots coming in the fall."

"Don't you know it's not healthy to stare at something for 20 minutes?" came a female voice near him. Justin didn't have to turn around to know who the voice belonged to.

"What are you doing here?" he said to Aisha after he'd turned around to find she was no more than ten feet from him. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Being a part of Kim's circle of friendship has its privileges," Aisha said, flashing him a wink. "Jason's father happens to work for the same law firm I work for - in fact, he's one of my superiors. When he saw the show the other night, he only guessed I was a Power Ranger too. I said I was, and then showed him my plane ticket to Greece. He then told me, 'Get outta here, and bring Kim and Tommy back together. I'll cover for you.' But seriously, why are you staring at this?"

"It's - it's the significance I guess," Justin said.

"And I agree, it is very significant," Aisha said, as the two began walking through the park. "But you're a hero to me already, regardless of what happens. Just for trying."

"Really?"

"Really. To me, it's not about winning or losing - never has been. I'm confident, but I know how it feels to come up short, so I don't get all worked up about it. It drives my bosses crazy except Jason's father, who always tells me I have the proper perspective."

Justin nodded, his face expressing a radiant smile. It was at that point where he decided to pop a question to his new girlfriend, based on some background he'd learned the previous day.

**Flashback**

"_Hey Justin_," Rocky said. "_How you feeling_?"

"_Nervous_," Justin said, "_and tight_. _And for once, it's not about the Red Sox, though I'm upset with them too_."

"_You're thinking about Aisha, aren't you_?" Rocky said. '_I can see it - it's the exact same look Tommy had when Kimberly first came after him. From what I understand, she kind of threw the first punch, kind of like Aisha has done with you."_

"_She took me by complete surprise, Rocky, you're right_!" Justin said. "_Now I'm caught between a rock and a hard place - what the hell am I going to do to let her know I appreciate what she's doing for me_?"

"_Listen, don't you think Tommy felt the same way when Kimberly started taking after him? I mean, it's not like our fearless leader initiated anything. She was after him from the word go_," Rocky said. "_My point is, we can handle this just the way we've handled all those goons for all these years. Before you do anything, you need to know what she likes best_."

"_OK_."

"_Here's what you need to know about Aisha_," Rocky said, checking to make sure she wasn't around. When he felt safe, he continued. "_This is coming from a person who dated her in high school._ _Aisha is a very simple person. She has never been one for glitz or glamour. No, something simple for her will do. You could go lots of different ways, but I know the perfect thing you could do to make her happy. Yet I want you to consider all options_."

_For ten minutes, the two tossed around ideas, at which time Rocky laid out his idea_.

"_I like that idea best_," Justin said. "_It's convenient because that's something I've been wanting to do for a while_."

"_I truly think she'll be elated if you do this_," said Rocky. "_It's a good plan. Good luck, and I hope you pull it off. She deserves a man like you who cares_."

**End Flashback**

"You're staring at me," Aisha said. "What's on your mind?"

Taking a deep breath, and knowing this might be his best chance to pull his own surprise, he looked her right in the eye.

"Thank you for welcoming me into your life with open arms," he said. Before she could reply, he continued. "One of my passions is one of yours too - that of being a Christian and all it entails. I have wanted to do this for a while, and I can't think of a person more deserving to go with me than you. Would you like to go see _Passion of the Christ _on a date before we leave for Greece?"

Aisha's eyes bulged as wide as saucers. Now it was she who was taken by surprise.

If she had been willing to predict anything, she would be the first one to ask him for a date. Now he'd put her on the defensive.

If Justin had wanted to hit the proverbial homerun, he had just done it. She had wanted to go see that film, but work and the latest situation with Tommy and Kimberly had kept her from doing so.

"You're gonna take me to see _Passion of the Christ_?" she said, mouth agape. "Can I hold you to that? This is serious stuff we're talking about here Justin - I have waited awhile to see that film."

"You're damn right you can, sweetie," Justin said as he plastered kisses all over her face. "You name the time and place and I will take you. Besides, it's a passion of mine too."

"3:00 tomorrow?"

"It's a date," Justin said. "Signed, sealed, delivered. This is my way of saying thank you."

"If you're able to pull this off, words will not be able to express my joy," Aisha said.

11:00 am

Hayley's Cyberspace

Reefside, CA

"So, I was wondering last night what I could do to spice up one of our tracks for the latest CD," Kira said as she and Tanya sipped smoothies, "and an idea hit me. Can I play an additional four piece?"

"Sure," Tanya said. "If you think you can make it better, run it by me and then we can see."

Kira cranked up her guitar, and began.

**Though I have my guilt**

**There's no time to spend**

**Crying over milk spilt**

**Cause my heart's on the mend**

"I like it Kira. Well done," Tanya said. "Depicts our situation perfectly. We'll have more time to perfect our stuff especially after the others leave next week."

"What? Aren't you going?" Kira said.

"No I'm not," Tanya said. "The guys want to have a couple of veterans here. Billy's got his Ninja powers back to complete their team, but they want me for an added veteran in case something really big happens. I wanted to go and meet Kim, but I think it's the logical choice. Adam is going. I'm not."

"All right. That sounds good," Kira said. Just then, Adam walked into Cyberspace, spotted Kira and Tanya and sat down.

"Hey, baby," Tanya said as she pecked a kiss to his cheek. "How's the boy?"

"Matthew's doing great. For some reason, he seems to be a bit more jumpy today, but there isn't anything wrong with that," Adam said. "Besides, every time he does that, it reminds me of you. You're as perky as it gets."

"Oh, sweetie, you're too much," Tanya said as Adam pulled her close.

"How's the music coming, Kira?" Adam said as Tanya's kiss trailed off.

"Pretty good. Working on a few lines for one of the songs, but overall we're in a pretty good state," Kira said. "Could one of you do me a favor?"

"Kira, you can ask us for anything you want," Tanya said. "To me, you've become almost as much of a part of our family as Matthew. What's wrong, honey?"

"Could one of you go talk to Conner, please?" Kira said, pointing to a different part of Cyberspace, where Conner was lifelessly kicking a soccer ball around.

"I've tried to talk to him for the last two days, tried to get him out of his funk after what happened a couple days ago," Kira said, "but he hasn't taken my response in a positive way. Despite all I've said about him, I'm actually very concerned for his well being. I'm afraid he's gonna do something stupid and hurt our team."

"Sometimes, Kira, there's just nothing you can do to cheer someone up," Adam said. "Tanya?"

"Yeah, I'll go," Tanya said. "He'll be fine, Kira. He's just going through what I call Tommy Syndrome."

"Which, I guess, consists of beating your brains against the wall after you make a mistake?" Kira said, turning back to Adam.

"Precisely," Adam said. "Before you knew Tommy, we knew him way back in high school. Exhibit A of Tommy Syndrome is indeed beating your brains against a locker when you mess up. It drove us crazy."

"Hey!" Tommy's voice suddenly rang out from the other side of Cyberspace. "I heard that! Knock it off, you two!"

"Ooooooh, we're soooo scared of big, bad Dr. Oliver," Kira shot back.

Tommy shot Kira and Adam a death glare before asking, "Hey, has anyone seen Justin around?"

"He took off today for Angel Grove," Zack piped up from a nearby table. "Rumor has it he's looking to take Aisha on a surprise date tomorrow afternoon."

With that statement now out, Tommy looked back at Hayley as if to say, '_We're going to have to teach that boy a lesson about going on a date during a friggin Red Sox-Yankees game_.'

Hayley merely nodded her head. Despite the fact that she'd profusely apologized for her behavior, it was no secret that she hadn't really been fond of Justin coming back and immediately having make-out sessions with Aisha - never mind that most of the Rangers knew that it hadn't been Justin's fault in the first place - and now she had even more of a reason to be angry with him.

"What kind of a Red Sox fan misses a game against the friggin Evil Empire in New York just to go out on a date with someone he's barely been acquainted to?" Hayley fumed. "Now we have one less body to deal with against Conner, who's in love with the Yankees. If I see good ole Justin Sunday, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind."

Like Tommy, Hayley was a graduate of MIT in Boston, and those two along with Justin were devoted fans of the Boston Red Sox. Hayley could only imagine how Tommy felt - he had two curses to bear. The first being the Red Sox going 86 years without winning a World Series, and the second being his own personal curse of having Kimberly drop out of his life.

Meanwhile...

"Man, this hurts to think about all the damage I've done to the team," Conner muttered. Not even the talks Kira had with him had convinced him that everything was going to be all right, as he felt that he'd done irreparable damage to the team with his actions just a few short days ago.

In a three word summary - he felt lifeless.

"Are you all right?" a voice piped up from nearby. "You seem really down."

"Mrs. Park, if only you knew how right you are," Conner said glumly as he came face-to-face with the twice-incarnated Yellow Ranger.

"Mind telling me what's wrong?" Tanya said. "You're about as low on confidence as I've seen from any leader of a team, and that's saying something. Please, talk to me."

"You were there. You saw what happened, when I called Aisha and Justin out," Conner said. "I don't need to explain what happened."

"Why are you so intent on dwelling in the past?" Tanya said with a laugh. "That's so - earlier this week."

"It's been devastating - I can't get it out of my mind," Conner said. "In my mind, I can see Dr. O and Zordon saying that I've disgraced my color, and that I'm no longer allowed to carry the Power."

Tanya wanted to blow a fuse, but found she couldn't. In a way, he was right - he had disgraced himself and his teammates.

But she also knew something else. And she'd seen this so many times before it was hard to count.

"Conner, this is a confidence issue more than anything," Tanya said. "You don't suck, all right? Think of it this way - at least you realized your mistake. I know you made a grave mistake. But I also know that you need to put it behind you. Kira and Adam are worried sick about you. Your other teammates will be also unless you snap out of this state ou're in. Your own Dr. Oliver had these same issues way back when also."

"Huh?"

"Yeah he did. We called it Tommy Syndrome. And you've got its major symptom - a lack of confidence over one little mistake. Don't let it ruin your day."

"Thanks, Mrs. Park," Conner said as the two embraced.

"Call me Tanya, Conner," she said. "I appreciate the formalities, but truly it makes me feel old."

"Will I be seeing you in the future, or are you off to Greece?" Conner said.

"Lucky for you, you'll be seeing more of me in the future because I'm staying here with Kira," Tanya said, giving him a wink.

"Good. You've become my second favorite Yellow Ranger for this talk alone."

"I'm flattered," she said, smiling at him. "But I think your #1 favorite Yellow - or rather, Orange Ranger - is dying to see you happy. Besides, you have some Red Sox fans to annoy."

Conner smiled at that notion. Being a born New Yorker and coming from a Yankee family, he knew the one number that would drive Tommy and Hayley into fits of hysteria.

1918. The last year the Red Sox won the World Series.

Saturday, July 25, 2004

5:15 p.m. local time

Angel Grove, CA

"I don't even know what to say, Justin," Aisha said as she and Justin walked out of a local movie theater with tears shining in Aisha's eyes.

Most things didn't exactly bring the veteran Yellow Ranger to tears. After all, she'd seen pretty much everything that a normal person wouldn't.

But that was the significance of her first date in years - and a damn good one at that. The movie had lived up to the hype in Aisha's mind, and she and Justin had held each other for the entire two hours of the film, laughing and mostly crying.

"Don't say anything. You'll only drain yourself trying to come up with an explanation," Justin said.

"You're the best. The very, very best," Aisha said as she and Justin held one another tightly. "You got plans for the evening?"

"I was kind of planning on going back to Reefside," Justin said, "and bringing you in my car."

"How did your car get here anyways?" Aisha said. "I thought your car was in Boston?"

"Zordon," Justin said. Aisha nodded because she knew that was all that needed to be said. "Teleportation."

"I kind of like the idea of us riding back together - besides, I already have my stuff packed," Aisha said. "But can we go back to my place for one second? I have a gift for you too that's still there."

20 minutes later, Justin was following Aisha into her residence, and then into her living room.

"This is yours," Aisha said as she pressed a blue BlackBerry into Justin's hands. When Justin looked at it, his eyes went wide. For all of the technological things he had accomplished, he'd never so much as touched a BlackBerry.

"Most of the stuff has already been programmed," Aisha said, "so you won't have to worry about that. This is actually a backup BlackBerry that I wanted to use at one point to communicate with the guys, but I never could do it because I never knew how. But it's yours now."

"You did well. Thanks," Justin said. "Where's the restroom?"

"That way," Aisha said, pointing down a hallway to her left.

"OK. Give me a couple minutes in there and then we can hit the road."

"OK."

As Justin departed into the restroom and sat down to excuse himself, he pulled out his cell phone and noticed he had several texts, some of which were pretty nasty.

The first was from Tommy, and it read the following:

_I hope your little date was worth it because you missed a great game at Fenway. Also, you missed Pay-Rod_ (an obvious reference to Yankee superstar Alex Rodriguez)_ fighting with Varitek. Yanks suck. Go Sox!_

One was from Conner, who had the following to offer:

_1918!_

The last one, from Hayley, was particularly nasty.

_DO NOT let me see you around this residence tomorrow, bucko. What kind of a Red Sox fan misses a game against the Yankees - FOR A DATE? You better hope you're in practice because if I see you tomorrow, I will kick you into the next county._

That only made Justin smile.

"We'll see about that, now won't we?" Justin said. "Sounds like a challenge."

The last one, from Adam, was a touch nicer but it still hurt.

_You got some lunatics ready to kill you, man. I'm not so sure I wouldn't stay in Angel Grove tonight and tomorrow, LOL._

Then, as he got up and flushed the toilet, he activated his internet access on his new BlackBerry, and found that indeed the Red Sox had won in the bottom of the 9th that day, beating their archenemy from New York 11-10.

"It's always good to beat the Yankees," Justin said as he washed his hands and went out to meet Aisha. "Especially on the day of MY first date with the greatest woman I have ever seen."

On a planet far, far away...

It was a rocky planet that was almost desolate of civilization.

The key word being, almost.

Because there, on top of a great plateau in the center of the planet, stood one of the most beautiful women the universe had ever seen.

And yet, the amount of power she carried was intimidating.

She was Dulcea, Master Warrior of the planet Phaedos.

Currently, Dulcea was looking at the Neola Jungle, and beyond it, the monolith which carried the Great Power. From her plateau she could not move, otherwise her aging process would speed up rapidly. This was, essentially, her timewarp.

But she could almost feel sinister movement afoot in the universe. She'd tried to contact Ninjor at his temple, but for whatever reason he was missing - had not been able to return her calls.

"Why would Ninjor ever leave his temple?" she muttered. "This situation is really strange."

Without warning, a thunderclap was followed by several thousands of clay-footed warriors dropping out of the sky. Without warning, she was surrounded by 30 gray-clad Putty Patrollers.

"Just what do you all think you're doing here?" she muttered. "You're supposed to be dead. Very well. I'm due for a good fight."

However, Dulcea was out of practice, as she hadn't fought in quite a while. Thus, she soon found herself outnumbered, and was unable to keep the Putties off her.

As one of Zedd's Putties held her in a tight grip, another came with a syringe, and injected some into Dulcea, causing her to fall into a deep sleep.

Having gained their prize, the Putties vanished from Phaedos, leaving the universe in great danger.

Mesogog's Underground Base

"Thrax, are you sure that spell which binds her to Phaedos is gone?" Zedd said after he and his son had locked Dulcea away in a stasis chamber. "Because if you're wrong, you're going to have to go to Plan B."

"I am indeed 100 percent sure, Father," Thrax said. "Rita was the one that cast the spell which bound Dulcea to that miserable planet, and Scorpina was kind enough to give me her main book of spells. The spell which releases her is in that book."

Zedd only nodded. He didn't even want to think about putting Scorpina, who had been one of Rita's underlings, second in command over his own general Goldar, but the way she was performing he was at least having to reconsider.

"Very well. Good job, son," Zedd said. "Now, what's the plan?"

"Hide her here until those veterans get on that plane," Thrax said. "I don't want those veterans to know what's going on. Then, we take those young Rangers of Dr. Oliver's by surprise and destroy them!"

Excellent," Zedd muttered. "Impursonator is also ready for battle whenever you wish to use her."

"One more thing, Father," Thrax said. "I just noticed that former Blue Ranger Cranston has his Ninja Powers back. Be SURE he stays out of our way. I don't want him interfering with my plans."

"Allow me to help with that," Mesogog said as he entered. "I see you guys have a nice plan working, and I'd do anything to help."

"What do you have in mind?" Zedd said tersely. To say he wasn't fond of Mesogog and this alliance was an understatement. After all, he was Lord Zedd.

"That former Blue Ranger is in love with their newest Ranger, Hayley," Mesogog said. "If we put Hayley in danger on the morning you wish to release Dulcea for attacks, we can cause a distraction which will force the others to battle without Cranston."

"Excellent! I like it!" Zedd said.

"Besides, Hayley can't fight Zeltrax and Elsa this soon after she has the Power. We'd capture her easily."

"Proceed with the plan," Zedd said. "But understand that if it fails, the consequences will be grave."

"As you wish, Lord Zedd," Mesogog said as he exited the room.

TBC...


	7. 7: Enter Trey and Storm Blaster

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: What I mentioned about Elsa last chapter, that was actually meant to be Scorpina. In this story Elsa is to be no more, as her alias is to be an ally for the new Ninjas.

Chapter 7-Enter Trey and Storm Blaster

Saturday, July 25, 2004

Approximately 3 p.m.

Hayley's Cyberspace

Reefside, CA

"Maybe he was right," Tommy said. "Maybe Justin was right to go on his little date. He's certainly not missing anything to this point."

"Yeah, yeah! That's right baby!" Conner said. No doubt, Tommy's misery was his gain. "3-0, and gonna be looking for more! Just another part of our drive for World Championship number 27, baby! Let's go A-Rod!"

The Red Sox were down 3-0 in the third inning, and already trailed by 9 and a half games in the American League East race. A loss would make it a 10.5 game deficit for the Sox, and probably send Tommy to the plane on Monday with conflicting feelings on whether Justin was right after all.

Maybe the Sox were cursed. Maybe he'd get his Kimberly back, but the Sox would never win it all.

And then it happened.

"Oh, here we go!" Tommy shouted, as Alex Rodriguez was suddenly plunked and attempted to charge the mound. "Hayley, get the fuck over here!"

"What the hell-" Hayley muttered as she ran in to see what was happening. What she saw was Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek pummeling the Yankee star as he attempted to charge the mound.

"Get em, Tek!" Hayley shouted as she, Conner and Tommy saw both benches clear and a fight ensue. "Conner, your butt buddy A-Rod asked for that!"

"What does it matter, we pissed off those softies from Boston. We're still gonna win anyway, so shut it," Conner said.

"Watch your mouth, young man," Tommy snapped. "Finally, Tek stands up to someone from those bullies from the Bronx. Here we go, Hales, THIS is what we've been waiting to see!"

Approximately 3 hours later...

"Come on, get up ball, get up, get up, go, go, go!" Hayley and Tommy shouted in unison as Trot Nixon's ball headed for Fenway Park's right field bullpen.

"OH MY GOD!" Tommy shouted when it landed in the bullpen, giving the Red Sox an 11-10 victory and sending Conner into a state of shock. "WE BEAT THEIR GOD OF A CLOSER!"

"Text Justin - hurry!" Hayley said. "Tell him his ass is grass when he gets back. Wait, I'll do that, you tell him about the game!"

"On it," Tommy said.

"Oh, don't celebrate for too long, you guys got lucky," Conner stammered.

"Temper, temper," Hayley said. "If anything, it's the Yankees that get ALL the luck. Remember, what goes around comes around!"

6:45 p.m. local time

Somewhere near Reefside, CA

"You know you'e going to get a lot of grief from the guys when you get back, don't you?" Aisha said as Justin continued to roll down the freeway which led from Angel Grove to Reefside.

"And I don't care," Justin said. "Screw what they think. Today was about you. It's never about me, never has been. I wanted to show that I appreciate what you've done since I got here. I'm tired though. Right now I just want to get us to Reefside. I'm tired and I want a good rest. And I want you with me when I get in bed. By the way, what's with your fascination with bears? It's like your entire place is stuffed with teddy bears."

"Ninja spirit animal, sweetie," she said. "When we got our ninja powers, we each had our own specific spirit animal. Kimberly's was the Crane, Tommy's was the Falcon, Billy's was - and now is again - the Wolf, Adam's was the Frog, Rocky's was the Ape and mine was the Bear. That's what I try to be - a mother cub for the others and an example they can live by. The team calls me The Voice, because when there's something important to say, oft times I'm the one to say it. Most of the team leads by example, so they often look to me for stability."

"Have you always been that way?"

"I wasn't always that way. You may think of me as some perfect angel, but back in the day I had a lot to learn too. I held grudges where they didn't need to be held, and I tried way too hard to do things by myself that weren't necessarily under my control. When my best friend Shawna got captured by Goldar back in the day, I freaked. But Tommy was the first to tell me that everything would be OK, and sure enough he got Shawna out of there and kicked Goldie back to the moon."

"Was it fun to anger Zedd by spoiling all of his plans?"

"Every night I would go to sleep, I would think about how great it was to spoil yet another plan of Zedd's that he thought was foolproof. The first night I arrived, in fact, Mystic Mother and I ended up trading good-natured jabs about the good old days when she was Rita, married to Zedd, and we spoiled all their plans. I like her - she's done her best to make up for her wrongdoings."

Justin merely nodded and glanced at the road. He wanted to lean over and kiss Aisha again, but he knew better since he was on a major California freway and knew how California traffic could be.

All the while, his shotgun companion was giggling.

As a car pulled out in front of him without using its blinker, he grunted.

"Freaking use your blinker already!" Justin growled. "God, I do NOT miss California traffic. It's as bad as ever."

"Oh, tell me about it," Aisha grumbled. "I literally growled at five drivers earlier this week for that very same thing. How difficult is it to at least use your freaking blinker?"

"Very difficult, I guess," Justin muttered. "Not to mention there are speed traps all over the place here. Cops are out like crazy for some reason. Thank God our exit is only two miles away so we can get out of this mess."

As Justin moved into the right lane and put his car on cruise control, a noise suddenly emanated from inside the car.

Oh wait, lookee, here's a text from Kim!" Justin exclaimed.

"What does it say?"

"_I hope you saw that game, it was awesome. I'm here with my Yankee teammates in Greece and I'm LOVING it! Good job by your Sox,_" Justin read aloud. "Guess I missed a hell of a game."

"Seems to me that Hayley girl is being a bit hypocritical - she of all people ought to know of the pain Tommy has been through," Aisha said. "So why the hell can't she respect us?"

"I'd have to agree. I'm no expert on love - this is my first real relationship - but you would think she'd understand about other relationships. I mean, I don't mess with Katherine with regards to her relationship with Jason! I saw Tommy's determined look when we went to go rescue Kim from Divatox, and I've never seen someone so in love with another woman!"

"That was NOTHING like when I was around them," Aisha said. "It sucks terribly that you couldn't have seen them in their prime. Neither will admit it, but they can't live without the other one. The sooner they admit it, the better off they'll be."

7:40 p.m.

1492 Valencia Drive

Reefside, CA

Coming home to help Tanya put Matthew to bed, Adam decided, on a whim, to check Tommy's messages - as Tommy had some voice mail coming in earlier that day..

The first two were basically junk. However, the third was quite different.

'_Tommy, this is Elise Randall. This is an urgent message. Please give me a call back when you get the chance. Thank you._'

"Might be the same Principal Randall that works for Tommy at that school," muttered Adam. Glancing through a phone directory, he managed to find the number Tommy used to dial Principal Randall.

"Guess I'll dial it and take Tommy's message for him," Adam muttered. He dialed the number, and there was a few seconds' wait before an answer.

"_Randall residence, Elise speaking_," came the voice.

"This is the Olivers, but this is not Tommy," Adam said. "I'm a friend of his, Adam Park. Tommy's out getting drunk after the Red Sox won today."

"_Ah yes, I forgot, he would do that_," Randall said, laughing. "_Problem is, this is personal business that I need to speak to him about_."

Adam wondered for a few moments about what kind of personal business it could be. Then, he put two and two together, with the name, and the rumors that had been going around Reefside, and from what Kira had told him.

"Uh, if it's Ranger business, you can trust me," Adam said. "Tommy was a teammate of mine on thiree separate teams. What's the problem?"

"_My spies in Mesogog's base tell me that Zedd, Mesogog and Thrax captured a very powerful being from the planet Phaedos. I know not of who she is, but they seem to think they have the upper hand on your team. If you would pass that along, that would be great_."

"Anything else?"

"_My spies also tell me that some creature resembling a pink purse is with them. They say it was used against a former Ranger team years ago_."

"Oh God, not her again," Adam groaned, as he knew the monster Principal Randall was speaking of - hell, he and his teammates had fought her and gone nowhere!

"_What_?"

"Never mind. We can handle it. Thanks, ma'am. Your help is greatly appreciated," Adam said.

"_As is yours. I can see that the spirit of Tommy is in you too. May God bless you_."

As the line clicked dead, Adam grabbed a sheet of paper, wrote a note for Kira, went to her rooma nd simply left it on her door.

"Let's see how good you really are," Adam smirked as he taped the note to the door and left. As he headed for the kitchen to grab a bite to eat, he collided with someone, and both tumbled to the floor in a heap.

"Hey, that's a - oh, sorry Adam," Billy said as he and Adam both picked themselves up off the floor. "You look a little shaken by something, man. What's wrong?"

"Tommy got a call from someone who apparently has spies in Mesogog's base," Adam said. "She said those spies saw Zedd, Thrax and Mesogog capture someone from the planet Phaedos..."

"Stop right there," Billy said as his posture straightened. "Did you say Phaedos?"

"Yeah, that's what she said. What's the significance?"

"On that planet lives a woman warrior who is just as good of a fighter as Zordon," Billy said. "She is Dulcea and she is the Master of the Ninjetti. I shudder to think what Zedd and Mesogog are planning to do to her, if Tommy's friend and her spies are correct."

"Just what can she do?" Adam said.

"Well, she could easily destroy us all, for one thing," Billy said. "Think Tommy, Jason, Kim, Adam and Trini all rolled into one, but with unlimited magical powers. And another thing, if those idiots turn her evil and destroy us, you'll be next on her list. Adam, she has a major crush on you."

"One more thing, Billy, Principal Randall said her spies have told her that Impursonator is back as well."

Billy's face was obviously turning six shades of pale as he hauled his butt to the basement, activated the galaxy-wide scanner and pinpointed it to where Dulcea would have been.

When his scans came up negative, confirming no life forms within the area of Phaedos' Ninjetti temple ruins, Billy's face paled even further.

"Oh, my God," Billy muttered. "We're in big trouble."

Meanwhile...

"Ooooooh, yes, you're so cute!" a man said to Matthew as he helped Tanya change the baby's diaper and get him ready for bed. "Tanya, you are so lucky to have a beautiful husband and a wonderful kid who just does all the right things. I noted the relationship you two had when I was helping out your team, and I wish only the best for you, Adam and your son."

"That means so much to me, Trey," Tanya said to the man. "I'm so glad to see you again. Are you staying?"

"Yes," the man said. "I am always eager to help friends of mine. I was so happy to meet Jason again, as it has been way too long since we last met. My adventures on Earth changed me - I didn't want to go to Earth when I heard the Machine Empire was attacking. I'd heard so many things about the people on Earth - things which could not be more wrong. Every single Ranger who has been under Zordon's tutelage is someone I've learned from - I watched the Costas interview from Triforia a few nights ago, and your Kimberly is an even greater example of Zordon's legacy. I also came to return something which has been long lost - something which will help immensely in the fight against Zedd and his son."

"What is it?" Tanya said.

"Take a look out your window and you'll see what I'm talking about."

Tanya glanced out the window, and her face formed a smile as she saw a blue vehicle right outside the window.

"Is that what I think it is? Is that Storm Blaster?" Tanya said.

"Yes it is. After the attack by Astronema on the universe, I decided to go back to Earth and get Storm Blaster and keep it until it could be returned to your Blue Turbo Ranger. With Zedd, Thrax and Mesogog preparing to launch an attack, I figured I would bring it back to Earth when I came."

"Is Pyramidas here?" Tanya asked.

"As always," Trey said, smiling. "Mystic Mother has a hidden compartment near her palace where she's keeping all the Zords for the new team, and she allowed me to put Pyramidas there. I wanted to leave Storm Blaster for Justin because I know he'd be excited."

"He missed Storm Blaster all those years from what I understand. Unfortunately, he's going to be headed to Greece, so he won't get to see much of it," Tanya said ruefully.

"Excuse me, am I not invited?" came Adam's voice from the doorway.

"Adam," Trey said simply as he got up and shook the young Asian's hand. "Great to see you again too. I'm so happy that your relationship with Tanya has turned out for the best. Jason and Katherine seem to connect well also."

"I'm glad that all of our lives have gone well who have donned the Ranger uniform," Tanya said.

"And with Storm Blaster, Pyramidas and the new team, the Earth now has defenders to protect her while we get Kimberly back," Adam said.

Mesogog's Island Fortress

But despite the fact that they had all these advantages, the bad guys knew they had theirs too.

As Dulcea's eyes flashed crimson, the bad guys knew they had the Rangers where they wanted them. Unaware of what was about to hit them.

They had the Master Warrior of the Ninjetti ready to go, and a purse monster itching for some action for the first time in seven years. A purse monster which had been a very difficult foe to defeat the first time.

Yes, the Rangers were about to never know what hit them. All the bad guys needed was for those geezers to get on the plane.

And that moment was coming very soon. They'd seen Storm Blaster and Trey arrive, and they didn't care.

This time, they would have their revenge.

TBC...


	8. 8: What is Love

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: More explanation on the plan to free Dulcea in the next couple chapters.

Chapter 8-What is Love

Monday, July 27, 2004

6:00 a.m. local time

Los Angeles International Airport

Los Angeles, California

"Man, Trey, it was fun while it lasted. But I gotta go. We've got a 15-hour flight in about an hour and a half and we've got a lot of work to do before we get on that plane," Tommy said as the caravan of Rangers - old and new, pulled into the parking garage at Los Angeles International Airport. He'd thoroughly enjoyed Trey's company the last two days, but knew it was time to move on. The veteran Rangers had come in three cars - Tommy's jeep, Hayley's suburban, and Justin's Storm Blaster for a reason - it was time to go get Kimberly back.

"It was fun for me too, Tommy," Trey said. "Go get Kim and go bring her home safe and sound. I'm not leaving until she comes back. The Earth will be fine while you are away - let's just say there's some more - uh - guests coming who will help us keep the Earth safe."

"All right, guys, everybody in," Adam said as he beckoned the veteran Rangers and Justin to join him in a little mini-circle.

They all put their hands together, as one, and jumped up, all the while shouting,

"POWER RANGERS!"

"Good luck, guys," Conner told the veterans.

"Before we leave," Justin said. "I have one last thing to take care of. Tanya, come here please."

"What is it, Justin?" Tanya said.

"This is my Turbo Morpher," Justin said. "Since I'm going to be in Greece, I cannot use it. I can't think of anyone better to hold my powers until I get home. The Blue Turbo Powers, as well as Storm Blaster, are now yours. Use them to defeat Lord Zedd and Mesogog."

"Justin, I'm truly honored. I've always wanted to see what it's like to drive Storm Blaster," Tanya said as she embraced her former teammate. "I wish you and the others much luck in bringing back Kim."

"Let's go, guys," Tommy said. "Sha, help me carry this luggage."

"My God, that is HEAVY," Aisha said as she helped Tommy drag it to the elevator. "Is Goldar locked inside this suitcase or something?"

"Gad, don't even mention him," Tommy said as the voices of the veterans died away.

1:00 p.m. Eastern time

On an airplane for Athens, Greece

On a flight that was surprisingly devoid of people, eight veteran Rangers were relaxing comfortably in three separate aisles, doing their own thing as the plane barreled towards the United States' east coast.

Adam, Zack and Rocky had brought a board game of Monopoly! on to the flight, and the three had been playing for the last two hours. Rocky had nearly gone bankrupt three separate times, but had somehow managed to stay in the game.

In another aisle, Jason and Kat had, by some act of God, found double seats, so they'd taken to the habit of simply kicking back and holding each other for the duration of the flight. Across from them, Tommy was reading up on the ESPYs, as well as the previous night's Red Sox-Yankees game. Because of some training he'd had his students go through, he'd missed the game even though it was on ESPN, so he was reading the recap - and wondering when the Sox were going to get rid of Nomar Garciaparra, whom Tommy was beginning to think was a locker-room cancer.

And in the third aisle, Aisha and Justin had also found double seats by another act of God, so they too were simply lying down, Aisha snuggling Justin lovingly in her arms.

Tommy, even while he was reading, seemed to be IMing with someone mysterious through his BlackBerry - to everyone but him.

All of a sudden, Tommy burst out in a fit of laughter, causing all his friends to look at him.

"Holy shit, what's got you so riled up man?" Adam said.

"Oh God, Oh God, Shawna's a riot. She's GREAT to have as a friend," Tommy said. He was, of course, referring to Aisha's best friend, former University of Oklahoma gymnast and Kimberly's USA Olympic teammate, Shawna Hilton.

"You mean, THAT Shawna?" Rocky said.

"Yeah, Rock. The one that dropped you like a hot bag of rocks all those years ago," Tommy said. "Anyways, she just told me, Trojans stop STDs, not Sooner TDs. See you at the Orange Bowl."

"Oh, come on, we have to deal with ANOTHER Sooner?" Zack said. "Bad enough being an SC fan with Jason the Okie around. But Shawna too?"

"Yeah, she's an OU grad," Tommy said, breathing a deep sigh. "Apparently a pretty obnoxious one too."

"That's right, baby!" Jason said. "Oklahoma Sooners, 7 time champs baby! Boomer Sooner!"

"Oh shut up Jason," Rocky said. "I thought you were asleep. Bad enough having to deal with Shawna as an OU fan but you too? And by the way, what IS a Sooner anyways?"

Tuesday, July 28, 2004

8:35 a.m.

Athens, Greece

"Everybody, we are preparing to land," came the voice of a flight attendant over the loudspeaker. "We are now descending to Athens, Greece. You may now turn on your phones. Have a nice stay."

"Guys, be sure you have your passports ready and be sure you get your bags," Tommy said. He was suffering from some jet-lag, but had surprisingly budgeted his time well as far as sleep, so he wasn't as affected as some of the others. "Shawna is going to be looking for us and I don't want to keep her waiting."

"Yeah," Justin, who had also budgeted his sleep time well, said. "I got to know Shawna shortly after the whole thing with Kim started. She'll get pissed if we keep her waiting too long. Fortunately for us, she has the day off."

Aisha could only nod - she hoped the process would go quickly because rumor was circulating that Shawna had reserved breakfast for the young adults later that morning at an American-chain restaurant somewhere in Athens.

Justin had sworn her to secrecy with regards to Kim about whether they were coming, and so far, she'd kept the promise.

20 minutes later...

"There she is!" Justin said. "Over there!"

Almost at the exact same time, Shawna saw the group of eight and rushed towards them.

"Hi guys!" she said. "It's been WAY too long!"

"Way too long since I've eaten anything," Rocky said. "Let's go chow."

Shawna rolled her eyes - that was the Rocky she knew.

"Justin, long time no see," Shawna said as she kissed his cheek. "How's your life? And what's this I hear about you going out with Aisha?"

"Hey, don't blame me!" Justin said as he threw his hands up in surrender. "She started it!"

"On the contrary, I think it's great you two are eloping," she said as she hugged her best friend, "and it's even better that my best friend started it. I expect some grandchildren to spoil in the future, you two."

After giving Adam a hug, she moved next to the three she hadn't met.

"I don't think I've met you three," she said.

"Katherine Hillard," the blonde Australian said, and then followed up by saying in a lower voice, "Second pink, Pink Zeo, Pink Turbo."

The rest nodded - they knew they could trust Shawna with their secrets and that the horse had been let out of the barn with her long ago.

"Jason Scott. Red Morphin, Gold Zeo for a while. I'm dating Kat - hopefully she and I will marry in the next couple years."

"You just LOOK like a leader. Some guys talk like it, other guys LOOK like it. You've got that look," Shawna said.

Jason nodded as she moved to Zack - that's the way Jason had always been. The one to lead by example rather than with words.

"Hi. Zack Taylor. You can call me the Zack-man if you so choose."

"Cocky, aren't we?" she said. "But with all you've done, you can back that up."

She next smiled as she moved to the man who had rescued her from Zedd's clutche so long ago.

"Last but not least. Tommy - uh, I mean, Dr. Oliver, it has been FAR too long since she last spoke in person," she said as she kissed his cheek also.

"When did you become so affectionate?" Tommy said.

"I've always been that way, you guys just don't always see it," Shawna said. "Let's get to breakfast - I've got a lot to fill you in on."

1 hour later...

The eight Rangers and Shawna sat, one hour later, in a small pancake place in Athens which was opened by American transplants several years ago. Shawna loved the place, and her friends were beginning to see why.

"That's a surprise to me. You're telling me Rick has been dead for a long time?"

"Yeah, it happened about a year, year and a half ago when he was sentenced for his crimes," Tommy said. "At least, that's what Justin told me."

"Damn that it couldn't have happened sooner," Shawna said. "We were already training for the Olympics by that point. So she's safe and she doesn't even know it. Poor Kim."

"Speaking of Kim," Tommy said, "Shawna, how tight is security with Kimberly?"

"Tommy, it's almost like Fort Knox over at the hotel where she is," Shawna said. "No one but no one gets in to see her but her teammates and I. Good luck trying to get past security to get to Kim's room."

Tommy wanted to pound his fist on the table, but relented. His feelings were a complete mixed bag - sadness with a touch of anger. This shouldn't have been happening!

"Bro, we'll find a way. We always did," Jason said.

"Jason, I'm afraid it's not going to be that easy," Shawna said. "Those guards will recognize you in a heartbeat. And they won't hesitate to take you out."

Jason sighed. Why couldn't it have been easier than what this damn thing was turning out to be?

All of a sudden, something came flying out of Jason's hand-held duffel bag - something that seemed like stapled papers, and went nearly halfway across the room.

"I'll go get that," Jason said. "Probably worthless anyways."

What he found next was a note - a note that was rather astonishing.

_Jason,_

_I had heard from some friends that you guys were going to the Olympics to cheer on Kim. As you know, I went to law school in the States, and eventually became a police officer in Europe for a while, particularly Geneva and Paris for a few years._

_I was actually assigned, as a police officer, to look into the shootings in Paris and Geneva which killed both Trini and Kim's step-dad and mother. I have evidence, and loads of it - as well as the evidence that the killer is dead (I saw it live) to help you with security. It's the least I can do to repay you for you helping me grow up back when I used to be that underachieving punk bike-rider._

_Au revoir, and have a good time in Greece!_

_Emily_

Jason put a big smile on his face, saw the pictures and documents, and walked back to his table.

"What's that, bro?" Tommy said.

"This, bro," Jason said, "Is our one-way ticket, or rather your one-way ticket, to see Kim. Thank you Emily."

"You mean, that Emily?" Rocky said. "That weirdo nutjob? How the hell did she find us in Reefside long enough to sneak that in your stuff?"

"Yeah. The very same," Jason said as he rolled his eyes at Rocky. "And I don't know how she found us, but I'm sure glad she did. We're still gonna have to plan this carefully though."

3 hours later...

The Rangers had hit some dumb luck by having a hotel near the water.

Being that Athens was a coastal city, there was no shortage of water nearby. The veteran Rangers had taken this opporunity to get out near the water, and have some fun.

That is, all except one Tommy Oliver, who was in his hotel room, doing his best to 'meditate.'

The weight on him was now unbearable.

He and Kim were now in the same town, more than within shouting distance of each other - in fact, rumors were that the U.S. team hotel was an exquisite one no more than 15 minutes away.

"Man, what if this whole thing blows up before we get a chance to execute our plan?" Tommy said, tears in his eyes.

Then, he felt a pair of hands go around his, undoubtedly a woman's. He began to freak, thinking it was Kim.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he looked up and saw it was Shawna.

"Aren't you supposed to be back at your team hotel?" Tommy said.

"Are you more forgetful than usual? We're only like 15 minutes away!" Shawna said, slapping his arm playfully.

"Yeah, I guess that jet lag is getting to me," Tommy said. "It's just..."

"I know, it's hard," Shawna said. "You wish you could have been there for her back in the day."

"Shawna, you just have no idea," Tommy said. "The truth is the truth, but it hurts..."

"Hey, I'm the perfect person to go to for this type of problem," Shawna said. "I majored in psychology in college. You want to know the good news?"

"Is there good news?"

"Yes. She still loves you."

"Shawna, what is love?" Tommy said. "I used to think I knew what love is, but after so many heartbreaks I just don't know anymore."

"What is love," Shawna mused. "What is love. Have you ever picked up a Bible, Tommy?"

"Yes, but not in several months," Tommy said. "You know how forgetful I can be."

"I want you to remember this passage from Corinthians and remember it well, Tommy," Shawna said.

Tommy nodded, and gritted his teeth, waiting for what was to come.

"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant," Shawna said, "does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered_, _does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

After Tommy heard this passage, he nodded simply, all the while thinking silently to himself as Shawna continued to speak.

"Do you ever wonder why I never married, Tommy?" Shawna said.

"No. Please enlighten me. That surprises me, by the way," Tommy said.

"Because, from my time at Stone Canyon, to my time at Oklahoma until now, there has been no man who has fulfilled those requirements in that passage. I know it's been hard for you, but you've done a nice job of biding your time, waiting for your second chance. You and Kim were doing things right, you were both just a victim of circumstance - just flat dumb luck."

"Give it to me straight, Shawna. Is there still a chance?"

"Yes," Shawna said. "But you must play your cards right. You have to go about this carefully - there is a reason she has security following her all around this place. She's been through a lot too. I know you want to simply rush in and be her White Knight, but you both aren't teenagers anymore. You have to be a little more cerebral about this."

As much as Tommy hated to admit it, Shawna was right. He couldn't simply rush in and do this again. It was going to take everything in his power to get past all the obstacles that lay before him.

"Just know that if you need any help in getting past any of these obstacles, I'm here," Shawna said. "I can't spoon-feed you but I can help you a great deal. Don't forget about those documents Jason found this morning. Those could be vital."

Mesogog's Underground Base

"Who wants to see the end of the Power Rangers today?" shouted Thrax, almost boastfully.

Everyone cheered. They were a frightful sight indeed.

"I've got a better idea. Use these," Goldar pointed to a stack of camouflage jackets, seemingly custom made.

"I hate human clothing, but Goldar has it right," Zedd said. "The Rangers have trouble with surprise attacks, and this would be the primo example of one."

Seeing their opportunity, Zeltrax and Scorpina teleported out from nearby to start the attack. They didn't need to wear anything, and thus teleported to Reefside.

But some of the others - Goldar, Zedd, Thrax, Mesogog, Impursonator, upon putting on the jackets, mysteriously started acting strange.

Verbal taunts began with a Zedd volley. Mesogog responded with one of his own, which was followed by Impursonator, who was then followed by Zedd.

Nearby...

Dulcea was training for her first attack against the Rangers, heard the voices, and suddenly became confused.

Weren't Zedd, Mesogog, Thrax and Impursonator supposed to be a great TEAM?

A TEAM?

And she became even more confused when she began to hear voices in her head.

'_Dulcea, Dulcea_.'

"What the? What's going on? Get out of my head! I am training for battle!"

'_You have been placed under a spell. This is not you. Let us help you_.'

"No! I am stronger! Get out!" Dulcea exclaimed.

But even though she was one of the most mentally strong beings in the universe, her mental state was beginning to break down. Whoever was getting through to her was making superb progress. It didn't help that she heard her bosses fighting outside. Was it really true?

Those were her last thoughts before her world faded to black.

Tuesday, July 28

10:00 a.m.

1492 Valencia Drive

Reefside, CA

"Get her out of there!" Kira shouted. "Before they realize what's going on!"

"I'm trying! I'm trying!" Alpha 5 shouted. "Aye-yi-yi!"

"Let me see that, Alpha. I can handle this," Billy said. After a few moments, he said. "Gotcha! Getting an invisiportal on her - now! Got it!"

Just then, the alarms sounded throughout Tommy's base, which consisted of the Ranger allies - including some new arrivals, and the Rangers themselves. Well, all except one. Hayley was strangely absent.

"What is it, Zordon?" Conner said.

"Zeltrax and Scorpina," Kira responded before Zordon could. "And they've got Hayley, just before she got to the forest to get here."

"Well. We don't have far to go," Trent said. "They came to us. And, we got Dulcea out, so we don't have to worry about a second attack. Thanks to the rest of you guys."

The allies - including the new arrivals - nodded their welcomes, as one of the new arrivals - and no, it wasn't Principal Randall - had been involved in the center of the plan

Ninjor, you coming?" Conner said

"Yes, I am. Nothing I love more than a good beating of vile villains."

"Watch out for Scorpina's stinger, guys," Billy warned his new teammates. "It will leave a mark if it gets you. Other than that, throw the works at em. I expect nothing less than all of us back here safe and sound. The world, and your mentor, is counting on us."

"OK, then let's do it," Conner said. "Let's show em they haven't learned a damn thing! It's Morphin Time!"

As the new Rangers morphed and teleported out, one of the new arrivals, a black African-American male with a baseball player's build, stepped up beside Tanya and asked, "Do we go with them?"

"No, TJ," Tanya said.

"Like your wife fashion-girl over there," she said while pointing to one of the new arrivals - a red, black, white and gold feminine creation who had formerly worked for Divatox but was now working for the Rangers, "you and I wait until Zeltrax and Scorpina think they have em. Then, we hit em with a big surprise."

TJ looked at his wife, who nodded his assent of Tanya's plan. They all then turned to watch the battle unfolding in front of them, as the last of the new arrivals - who looked strangely like Divatox (in fact, she WAS her for many thousands of years) but was in civilian clothes - walked over to Dulcea.

"How is she, Deanna of Inquiris?" Zordon said.

"She will be fine," Deanna said. "She is out cold, but she should come around in a couple of hours."

Zordon then turned to Divatox's former creation, who had been brought back several years ago by Deanna, and said, "Your plan worked perfectly, Delisha. Thank you. Dulcea now belongs to us once again."

"You are welcome, Zordon."

TBC...


	9. A Vicious Fight, Subliminal Warnings

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: More explanation on the plan to free Dulcea in the next couple chapters.

Chapter 9-A Vicious Fight, Subliminal Warnings

Tuesday, July 28, 2004

Reefside, CA

As the Rangers landed, all as one, Billy frightfully gasped. Zeltrax had Hayley pinned down, and Scorpina was rearing back her stinger, poised to painfully poison Hayley.

In desperation, Billy immediately snuck up behind Zeltrax, who wasn't even watching, and kneed him in the side, forcing the cyborg to let go of Hayley, whose momentum caused her to roll right under Scorpina's stinger, and to safety.

"Hey! Let my girlfriend alone you creeps!" Billy shouted. "Scorpina, good to see you haven't changed your ways. Don't you EVEN think about harming my girlfriend!"

"Oh, but I will!" shouted Scorpina. "You're MINE, Blue Ranger, and then your precious girlfriend's going to follow right afterwards!"

"Hayley, you need to morph!" shouted Billy. "You go with the rest and take care of Zeltrax! Scorpina's mine!"

Within seconds, Hayley was morphed, and the other five were doing battle with Zeltrax.

Meanwhile, Billy was going at it with Scorpina, and for quite a while was faring quite well.

But, as sometimes happens, humans tire after a while, and this was after all, Billy's first time in spandex in a stretch of eight years. And after 30 minutes of hard fighting, Billy grew tired, while Scorpina was still strong as ever.

"Guys, regroup!" Billy shouted to the others, who were still handling Zeltrax well.

"Oh, no you don't Blue Ranger!" shouted Scorpina. She then fired a rope from her clawed hand, trapping Billy.

And soon after, an even more frightening thing happened. When Scorpina slammed down on the rope, Billy shouted, "Guys ... help ... she's making me weak..."

"She's draining his powers!" shouted Conner. "Let's go!"

"Oh, no you don't Power Brats!" Zeltrax shouted, as he fired a blast from his sword that sent the other five reeling.

Tommy's Base

Tanya paced around Tommy's base, simply stewing over the fact that one of her friends was in danger, and that she couldn't do anything about it.

Finally, she'd had enough.

"I'm going out there," she said. "I can't let Scorpina do this to Billy! She already threw Adam aside like he was nothing, years ago!"

"As much as I and my wife don't like it," TJ said, "you're right. Get out there and bring us home a win. Takes away the element of surprise but they've forced our hand."

Tanya nodded, summoned her 'new' Turbo Morpher and shouted, "Shift into Turbo!"

Meanwhile...

"Pretty soon, the mighty Blue Ranger will be begging for my mercy," sneered Scorpina. Indeed, a few more minutes and the Blue Ranger's power would be all hers.

But suddenly, her rope was cut by several laser blasts colored blue, and Scorpina was sent flying backwards.

"Oh, thank God..." Billy said as he stumbled backwards, weakly.

Meanwhile, the newly minted Blue Turbo Ranger landed gracefully, in front of Scorpina, who drew her stinger in anger.

"Why, you little pipsqueak child of a Ranger..." she growled.

"Guess again, Scorpina! Wrong person!"

She then smiled at who the voice belonged to. Here ... was her chance for revenge.

"Ah, it's the slut that the loser Adam married," she sneered. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you just like I did him. Then I'll take your child too, and make him my own! Now, take this!"

With that, Scorpina sent her stinger veering toward Tanya at lightning fast speed - but Tanya was ready.

"Turbo Hand Blasters!" she shouted. The ensuing firepower that she summoned from the Blue Turbo Ranger's weapon created a shield which sent Scorpina's stinger screaming right back at her, causing her to careen to the ground.

Barely fazed, Scorpina stood up and glared at Tanya, as if to say, _'How dare she stand up to me like this!_'

"You're gonna pay for that!" Scorpina growled, as she charged Tanya.

For twenty minutes, the two engaged in battle. Much to the surprise of Billy, who happened to glance from time to time at the two combatants, he realized that Tanya was slowly gaining the edge.

And then, with one final punch, Tanya sent the much more experienced Scorpina stumbling backwards. By that time, Tanya's confidence was through the roof.

"You know, Scorpina, when it comes to being obnoxious, you are a master at that. Not as hot as you thought you were, are you?" Tanya said, grinning. "How's it feel to get your ass handed to you by an upstart?"

"You haven't even see the best of me, human!" Scorpina growled. "Just you wait!"

Just then, Tanya saw some blue flickering around Scorpina's belt, and got an idea.

"Hand Blasters, full power!" she shouted, and took dead aim directly at Scorpina's belt, after which she said, "Please work..."

Tanya pulled the trigger, and fired an onslaught of blue energy directly at Scorpina's belt. When it made contact, Scorpina screamed in agony as she began losing power, which flowed towards the fallen Billy, who suddenly began growing stronger.

When the process was complete, Scorpina staggered weakly to her feet, barely able to stand.

"Hey Scorpina, one word ... scoreboard!" Tanya said gleefully. But her smile vanished when suddenly, several beams of light appeared from the re-unified underground base of Mesogog, causing Zeltrax, Scorpina and a recently arrived Impursonator to grow by several tens of stories.

When the beams stopped, three giants stood before the Rangers, including Scorpina in her scorpion form.

"Whoa!" gasped the others. "We better get the Zords!"

"Good luck, guys," Tanya said as she teleported back to Tommy's base.

"Let's do it, guys!" Conner said. "We need Ninjazord Power, now!"

With that, there was a rumbling, as five new battle machines - and an old one - came bursting onto the scene. Soon after, the Rangers were in their cockpits, activating their Zords.

"Blue Wolf Ninjazord, Power Up!"

"Golden Tiger Ninjazord, Power Up!"

"Gray Ram Ninjazord, Power Up!"

"Purple Unicorn Ninjazord, Power Up!"

"Orange Hawk Ninjazord, Power Up!"

"Green Eagle Ninjazord, Power Up!"

"Let's do it!" Conner said. "Ninja Megazord, Power Up!"

Once the new Megazord was activated, Billy pulled out a small device.

"Conner, keep us going while I install this!" Billy said.

"What the - "

"Just do it, Conner!" Kira said. Grumbling, Conner ordered the Megazord forward towards Impursonator, only to be hit from behind by Zeltrax.

"Shogun Megazord device activated," Billy muttered, even through the ripple that Zeltrax's strike caused in the Megazord. "Let's hope it works."

With that done, he surveyed the battle scene. Ninjor had arrived, and was taking on Scorpina, while the Ninja Megazord was taking on a double team from Zeltrax and Impursonator. The Rangers were able to knock Zeltrax back with several strikes, but Impursonator was barely fazed.

"Nice try, Conner," Billy said. "Don't get too down - she's tough, and her rubber skin absorbs most of our attacks. We'll beat her though."

Billy breathed a sigh of relef as the Shogun Megazord suddenly engaged Zeltrax, leaving the Rangers to their one-on-one fight with Rita's purse monster.

For thirty minutes, the two combatants exchanged punches and kicks, but neither really was doing any damage. Billy knew better though - he knew that the Rangers were having to exert a lot of energy, and were barely fazing Rita's former creation.

Sure enough, Impursonator let loose a blast that rocked the new Megazord to its core.

"Man, that did some damage! That hothead's killing us!" Conner said - right before she let loose another blast, sending the Megazord down to one knee.

Fortunately for the Rangers, the Shogun Megazord had run off Zeltrax a long time ago, and used this opportunity to distract the monster while the Rangers got back their Megazord back to its feet.

"Now's our chance," Billy muttered. "Conner?"

Conner smiled as he said, "Ninja Mega Saber, now!"

"Take her from behind," Billy said. "Fast, before she gets the upper hand on the Shogun Megazord! That's the way to beat her!"

As the two combatants were going at it, the Megazord did exactly what Billy asked - sneak up behind her and charge its saber.

"Look out behind you!" Scorpina shouted from across the battlefield.

But it was too late - as the Megazord's saber suddenly smashed into an unsuspecting Impursonator, causing her destruction in a fiery explosion.

"YES!" Billy shouted. "Well done guys."

"No....no..." Ninjor suddenly exclaimed, as he was being drained of his power by Scorpina's power drain. "I...feel...weak..."

"Oh, no you don't, Power Brats!" Scorpina shouted. Another rope shot out, enveloping both Megazords, as Scorpina started draining their powers as well.

"We're losing power!" Billy shouted. "Someone help!"

"No one can help you now, Power Brats," Scorpina smirked. "Soon your power will be ours!"

Until four blasts of gold suddenly smashed into Scorpina, causing her to lose her grip on the Rangers and Ninjor. Three wide beams of energy released the Rangers, while another one slammed into Scorpina's belt, returning the Rangers' and Ninjor's power to them.

"Trey!" Billy shouted. "Good to see you!"

"You too!" Trey shouted. "Let's take care of business!"

"How many allies can you possibly have, Power Punks?" Scorpina snarled.

"As many as it takes to beat you, you vile creature!" Ninjor shouted. "You're finished!"

With that, Ninjor transformed into his second form, his stronger form.

"Now, let's see how you handle this!" Ninjor said as he unleashed a beam of energy which slammed into Scorpina, sending her flying backwards.

Realizing that the situation was hopeless and that no help was coming, Scorpina decided to make her retreat.

"This is not over, Power Brats! You shall all die before this is over, and Adam's little slut wife too! We'll be back!" Scorpina shouted as she disappeared.

"Man, if that's all they have..." Conner said.

"Conner, you haven't seen them at thier worst," Billy said. "Enjoy this for the moment, but they will be back, just as she said."

8:30 p.m.

Athens, Greece

"Man, dude, you are ALL smiles right now!" Tommy said to Adam as they played Madden football on the PlayStation2 Rocky had brought to Greece.

"Just received a text," Adam said, grinning from ear to ear, "Kira tells me that Tanya kicked Scorpina's ass up and down the battlefield today, and frustrated the hell out of her."

"Yeah, give me five on that, man!" Tommy said, as he pressed his controls to play some defense against Adam's ball control offense. "Tanya's grown up so much."

"I can't be more proud of that woman," Adam said. "I wish I could have been back in Cali to see that. The person I love the most beats up on the person I hate the most - and there's NOTHING better than that."

"So, my man, have you made up your mind? When are you going to make your move?" Adam continued.

"Actually, Shawna and I think it might be best for her to see you guys there first. Then I come out of the 'pen' for competition," Tommy said. "In the meantime, I keep dropping her little hints - little rays of hope but not blowing my cover until competition."

"For a leader, you do the bullpen thing really well," Adam said. "Actually, I like that idea. It's best if you stay out of this for a while. When's the best time to go see her?"

"Fridays, Shawna tells me," Tommy said. "But I'm sure I'll be OK sitting in the pen. After all, I do have my Sox to keep up on."

"You and your damn Red Sox," Adam laughed, then suddenly grunted as Tommy's offense, led by Steve McNair, suddenly began moving it downfield.

"Yep, the biggest chokers in baseball, 86 years baby!" Tommy said. "But we still believe!"

As they continued playing, Tommy piped up, "Hey, I think it would be REALLY neat for you guys to go in ninja garb to watch Kim."

"You know, your mind is coming up with some really creative things today leader-boy," Adam said. "That is, indeed an awesome idea. I'll have to go looking for some ninja gear around town the next couple days."

"Text Billy and see if he can talk to Ninjor about this too," Tommy said. "Maybe he'll have some ideas."

Wednesday, July 29

11:00 p.m.

Athens, Greece

Somehow, Kimberly Hart was having these weird dreams.

She could feel presences - they seemed so far away, and yet they were so close!

And then - flashbacks she never thought she'd see again came through her mind.

They were rapid fire. It was Tommy this. Tommy that. And as much as she tried to push it away, she couldn't!

"Uh, Kim, Kim," came a faint voice from next to her. It was Shawna, her bunk mate, much to Kim's relief. "You looked like you were about to pass out."

"I don't know why, but I keep dreaming of Tommy - and he should be so far away but he seems so close!" Kim nearly exclaimed. "What's going on that I don't know about?"

Shawna sighed. She hated to spill a hint, but she had no choice.

"Kim, you've got something big coming your way on Friday. I mean, REALLY big," Shawna said.

"What do you mean? Is it good news or bad news?" Kim said.

"You'll just have to wait till Friday to find out. I'm not going to say a word about what it is. Now go back to sleep."

Friday, July 31

8:00 a.m.

Athens, Greece

Kimberly was in her uniform, ready to head to the bus for practice, but on impulse, she decided to check her mail first.

Taking a peek in her box, she spied a note. Opening it, she found a hand-held pink heart and a note, the contents of which read...

"_Be prepared. Something big is about to happen to you. Whether it's good for you or not is for you to decide_."

_A Friend_

Rolling her eyes, Kimberly hustled to the team bus, lest she be late.

TBC...


	10. 10: Kimberly's Surprises, Trent's Lover

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

Chapter 10 - Kimberly's Surprises, Trent's Lover

Friday, July 31, 2004

Mesogog's Underground Base

Over the previous few days since their first defeat against the newest Ninja Rangers, Mesogog, Zeltrax and their allies from the moon were plotting their next move against the Rangers.

"Well, obviously we can't take one of them evil," Zeltrax said in response to Lord Zedd's thought that Kira might be a good ally to have if they could turn her to their side.

Zedd ruefully nodded his head. He and his ex had tried that many times - including turning the most legendary couple in the history of the Power Rangers against one another - but as both groups knew, that tactic had failed ever single time.

"I've got one," Mesogog said. "What if...we sent the Rangers to a tortorous dimension...that tested every bit of their resolve?"

Lord Zedd stood up with glee. He'd had something on his mind - a potential plot, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Now he knew what it was!

"Yes, that's IT!" he shouted, almost with joy. "Yes, yes, this will work perfectly!"

Suddenly he turned to see Scorpina and Goldar staring at him, as if he was making a fool of himself. Quickly, he settled down, then went through with his plan.

"The Desert of Destruction is my own personal creation, sister to my ex's former evil dimension, The Island of Illusion. The evil that holds that place is no more, but it still resides in mine. The older Rangers might be able to come through it just like they came through the Island of Illusion, but the younger Rangers will NEVER survive my personal hell!"

"How do we get them there, m'lord?" Goldar said, eagerly anticipating what might happen next. "And remember Billy and that Blue Turbo interloper are still there!"

"We draw them out, first. Goldar and Scorpina would be good for that," Zedd said, as he turned to Mesogog. "Do you have a monster that specializes in opening dimensions?"

A smile spread over Mesogog's face - a smile so sinister that it would have made a normal human shiver.

"I think I have just the thing," he said. "Zeltrax, prepare the monster maker! You have precisely 24 hours - do NOT fail me! I will give you instructions on just what to do later. Go!"

10:30 a.m.

Athens, Greece

"Man, who the hell are those guys?" said a male American gymnast, while pointing to a group of six ninjas, and Justin (who apparently was leading them), sitting in the stands who were, quite frankly, making a whole lot of racket every time Kimberly did something good. And some of the gymnasts had echoed that previously - since when did these ninjas start being allowed into the practice facility?

"You guys, shut up already!" Shawna said. "It's just a group from the States who saw Kimberly's interview with Costas a few days ago - and they're out here supporting her. You all know how much torture Kim has been through and you all know she could use some supporters so just shut up!"

After which, she turned to the stands and thought, '_Rocky, you are such a jackass_,' as he (the fourth ninja from the left) held up a sign which said 'A White Out is Coming.' Another subliminal message which Kimberly did not pick up on immediately.

"Thank you, Shawna," Kim said.

"You're welcome."

As Kim moved to the balance beam, she saw that Justin had his arm wrapped around, what appeared to be the second one of the six on the left-hand side.

"_Hey at least the kid finally has a girlfriend_," Kim said to herself, of course not knowing who was behind the mask. "_He deserves one_."

Meanwhile, the group in the stands was enjoying Kim on the balance beam. Most who knew her, including the seven in the stands, knew that this was her strongest event - the incident back in Angel Grove be damned.

"I dunno about you, but I think we're starting to see flashes of the old Kimberly," Jason, the ninja furthest on the right, muttered.

"Yep, she looks like she's coming back," Adam said. "Hey, I have an idea."

"What's that?" Kat said.

"What if we channel our positive thoughts toward her? I mean, we ARE the Power Rangers," Adam said.

"Yeah, but that would tip us off," Jason said. "I want this to be a surprise. Drive her nuts, then we reveal ourselves one week before the competition. I've given a job to Tommy."

"And that is," Justin muttered.

"Take care of those guards that constantly are around Kimberly," Jason said. "That should keep him occupied until his time comes to see his princess. Maybe not take them out, but somehow get them out of the picture."

45 minutes later, practice ended with Kimberly saluting her new-found fans, and heading off with her team, thinking about that sign.

The sign that read 'A White Out is Coming.'

What, on God's green Earth could it possibly mean?

Whatever it was, she was happy with her newfound surprise.

"For someone who's supposed to be a geek, Justin sure has a creative mind," Kim muttered.

8:30 a.m. PDT

1492 Valencia Drive

Reefside, CA

"Man, these are so good," Billy said as he bit into another one of Tanya Sloan-Park's trademark omelettes. "I used to think Kim and Aisha were good, but..."

"Anton tends to really make good omelettes when some of the people from his company show up to the house," Principal Randall said as she sat with Billy, Tanya and Ninjor. Zordon stood to the side.

"So, what do you think our opposition is up to right now?" Tanya said. "How well do you know Mesogog's planning, Principal?"

"Having been around him for several months at a time," the Principal said, as she scratched her chin, "my druthers tell me the next attack's going to be a surprise attack. Is Zedd known for surprise attacks?"

"Sometimes," Billy said. "Most of the time he'd send the Putties down for a good battle before a fight but sometimes he'd take us by surprise, before Zordon could brief us."

"Indeed, Zedd has more weapons at his disposal than he used against you Rangers the first time," Zordon said. "This fight is a long way from over - in fact, my hunches tell me the worst battles and biggest tests for you Rangers are still yet to come."

Everyone in Tommy's kitchen nodded ruefully. If they knew anything about Lord Zedd or Mesogog, they knew this fight was far from over.

"Is anyone else surprised that Zedd's not going after Tommy and the older Rangers?" Tanya said. "Wouldn't he want to make sure Tommy and Kim don't get back together?"

"Meh," Mystic Mother said as she walked into the kitchen. "No one knows Zedd or his allies better than I do. He wants to go after Tommy, sure, but I think he's more worried about trying to subdue the younger Rangers first. That's why it's our job to make sure they stay safe. We win, they stay safe. It's that simple."

"Yep, that's the way Mesogog is too," Principal Randall said.

"Hey, has anyone seen Trent? He was over here last night you know, since Anton is supposedly out of town," Tanya said.

"I think some sorceress, or Master Warrior or whatever, is in this house keeping him - uh - occupied at the moment," Principal Randall said. "I doubt he even knows we're having breakfast."

"Uh, I don't even know if he's here then," Mystic Mother said. "Chances are, he's in her quarters in my palace if that's true."

Flashback, 10:30 the previous night

_It had been a long day for Trent Fernandez, arguably the loneliest of the active Rangers. Well, unless you counted Ethan but that was for another day._

_He had been interning at a business in town so he could boost his resume for later years, and it had been hard work - especially today._

_As he prepared to climb into bed, he thought of all the things he had been through in recent months. Being suckered into fighting against the Rangers. Torturing them and his father both at the same time._

_He thought of how he had joined them, and had secretly loved Kira, only to know that she was head over heels for another. About how he'd had to stand by and watch as Kira and Conner's relationship continued to grow._

_And that's when he felt a pair of the most soothing feminine hands ever stroking his back._

_He looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. But, truthfully, he didn't have a chance as it was too dark in the room for him to see anything. Then a pair of lips suddenly slammed into his, and a silky smooth "Hello Ranger," wafted through his ears._

_Then, suddenly, a light came on, and Trent finally got a good look at who was holding him._

_What he saw, or who he saw, was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen - anywhere._

_"Dulcea's my name, and making you my lover is my game," she said._

_"But, but, I'm still a teenager..." Trent stuttered._

_"It makes no difference," she said. "Do you not think I know that already? I am thousands of years old and I still have never married,"_

_Then, she smacked her lips against him again._

_"Come," she said. "Let's move this party onto my turf instead of dropping it in your mentor's house."_

_End Flashback_

Indeed, Trent knew nothing of what was going on in Dr. Oliver's household - because he wasn't even in it.

Phaedos' Master Warrior and Ninjetti Keeper Dulcea had Trent had done whatever she could to make him happy, and thus, he was simply higher than a kite.

Worry not about your friends," Dulcea said. "They have a test coming that will stretch them to their very limits, but they will pass it. You, my love, need to stay here and be one of the few who can still protect the Earth while they are gone. Let the next day or two be for us."

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen," Trent said. "Thank you for allowing me to stay with you."

"You are most welcome, my love. Anything you wish for, just ask me and I will do it. You deserve that much."

7:30 p.m. Athens time

"You can't leave me!" Kimberly near shouted to her guards - as she'd been doing for the last ten minutes at the news that they were leaving her, as her tormentor was dead. "What if he comes back? What if the thought that he's not dead is false?"

"Kim, Kim calm down," Shawna said as she rushed in. "You don't need them."

She then turned to the guards and said, "Go ahead and go. I'll calm her down - I know her better than most of my team members. She just needs to be free again. Thank you for all you've done."

30 minutes later, as Kim continued crying, Shawna said, "Girl, you really do need to be free again. You've been living basically the last eight years of your life in protection. Did you see all the fun those ninjas had in rooting for you today? Do you remember what that was like?"

"No, I don't," she said as Kimberly continued to sob into her pillow, "and I doubt that I ever will."

When Kim woke from a nap 90 minutes later, she was surprised to see Shawna gone, and a packet of papers sitting before her.

"Probably worthless anyways," she muttered as she started going through the papers.

As she continued going through the packet, she was surprised about what she was seeing. There, right in front of her very eyes, was the details of the trial against her torturer for the killings of her best friend and step-parents.

And then, her eyes bulged as she moved to another page. There was the evidence right in front of her.

Her torturer was dead. And had been for a while.

"I don't believe this," she muttered. "He's been dead, and I didn't KNOW about it? Who set this up?"

Then she thought about it a little more, and then said,

"Whoever arranged this, I should actually give my eternal thanks for," Kim said. "I can now be free again.

I can now be ME again. And that's at least a start."

Meanwhile...

Over across town, through his Ninja spirit, Dr. Thomas Oliver, who had met with Kimberly's former guards at an appointed lunch, breathed a sigh of relief.

The walls which had surrounded his Crane had been lifted. He could just FEEL it.

"Hang in there till the competition Beautiful," Tommy muttered. "I'll be there then..."

TBC...


	11. 11: Trini's Spirit Lives, Stone Returns

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: One of my reviewers asked me about the last chapter, and the papers that got Kim released from her guards. You need to go to Chapter 8 for more on that. Anyways...

Chapter 11 - Trini's Spirit Lives, Stone Returns

Saturday, August 1, 2004

Parts Unknown

Eight of Zordon's original 12 Power Rangers thought for sure they were asleep.

Yet, they weren't in a hotel room. They weren't lying down in a bed overlooking the seashore.

Instead, they were here. In an alternate dimension, but a beautiful one.

To their left was a spectacular jungle, with every kind of wild animal imaginable. Aisha was beaming with pride - it was these types she had taken care of during her stay in Africa.

To their right was a spectacular view of some sort of mountain range, with a gorgeous waterfall mixed in.

"You mean to tell me THIS is an alternate dimension?" Adam huffed. "This looks so damn real!"

"I've always thought of dimensions as horror scenes!" Rocky said. "Where the hell are we?"

"You're on MY turf now," came a voice that was distinctly female. It was a voice which also sent chills up the spine of every Ranger who was present. "As such, I brought you here. Welcome to MY playing field, my friends."

Every single Ranger whipped his or her head around, and gasped.

There, walking toward them was a figure that, though seemingly alive, seemed also to be translucent. If one was to try to touch the feminine figure that was walking towards them, his or her hand would go right through her. She had jet-black hair that went about halfway down her back, wore a yellow tank-top, and was surrounded with a serenity that made everyone present gasp.

"No way," Adam muttered.

"Impossible," Jason said.

"Not real," Zack muttered.

"No, it's really me guys!" the figure said. "Just in a different form. When that bastard killed me to get to Kim, my physical body died. Unlike Zordon and Mystic Mother, I am not an immortal being. I am human, and thus my physical body must die - it's inevitable. Being a Power Ranger did not excuse me from my fate - and both Zordon and I knew that going in. But my spirit remains, and Zordon gave me this dimension, which I now proudly call home."

"So that explains why we're here," Jason said.

"Yes," Trini said, nodding towards the original Red Ranger. "Though the bodies of Rangers may perish, our spirits still live. All of yours will too, after your time on Earth is done, and you'll get your own places just like I did."

"But, why are we here?" Zack said. "One minute we're dozing, next minute we're here. What gives?"

"You are here because I have something to say," Trini said.

Every single bit of commotion stopped, and every single Ranger present stood to attention.

"When my physical body died," Trini said, "I wanted to swear vengeance on Rick. Not just for killing me, but for everything he did to Kimberly."

All present nodded.

"But I couldn't count on it. All of us were separated. We all had lives. It seemed improbable."

She almost seemed choked up, as she struggled for her next words.

"But you...have proven...once again...to be some of the best friends I've ever had...you could have blown HIM off..." she said as she pointed to Justin. "...but you got behind him, and now, something I always dreamed of happening again is about to become reality..."

"You should have known to count on us! We're your friends!" Jason almost pleaded. "Some of us have been with you from the very beginning, way before we even BECAME superheroes!"

"I know, Jason," Trini wailed, "but think about it, how possible really was it? I just can't believe this is happening..."

"You've found a way, again," she continued, "and you've done it as only WE can..."

Everyone present all nodded. More work was still to come, but they'd accomplished a lot of the ground work already, and once again, they'd done it as a group.

"I'm...going to send you back now..." she said, "although Justin will stay for a few minutes afterward as I would like a few additional words with him. And Tommy?"

Tommy suddenly jumped to attention as Trini addressed him.

"Remember, second chances aren't granted very often," Trini said through her tears. "You're about to get another one. Do NOT let this chance pass. This chance of a lifetime - I can guarantee - will NOT come again."

At this, Tommy nodded.

"Until we meet again...goodbye my friends..." Trini said as seven of the Rangers disappeared.

Which left her and Justin face-to-face - alone. As she walked up to him, Justin's heart rose to his throat. Here was one of the very first Rangers he'd wanted to model himself after - right there with Tommy and Rocky.

'_She just seems so unflappable_,' Justin thought as he shook his head in amazement. '_Nothing seems to bother her even though she has some emotional breakdowns sometimes. And here I am, about to have a coronary not know what she'll say_...'

"Hey, what's with the head shaking?" Trini said.

"I'm just amazed at how unflappable you seem," Justin said. "It may sound weird, but you were one of the first Rangers I put on a pedestal. You're also one of the only Rangers I ever feared."

To which she flashed him a smile and let him continue.

"I'm just amazed at how calm you always seem. Here my heart is racing 1000 miles an hour, and for you this is just another conversation. I should be thanking you for saving the world when you had the chance - without you I'm not here doing what I'm doing, yet I can't get the words out. There are no words for this."

"No, Justin, no," Trini said vehemently. "I should be the one thanking you for giving Kimberly something to believe - when she absolutely had no business believing in her own self. You've done more than I could have ever done in my 22 years that I was on Earth. Aisha was right about you - you are most wonderful and you deserve every bit of your moment in the sun. Kimberly is my best friend and has been since kindergarten, so when I heard about what happened to her ... I cried for days, knowing I couldn't help her and yet my physical body still gets killed..."

"It was a sad day for all of us, I know, I was there when she came back from Murianthias. I was scared to know that I was going to have to find a way to give her support and still be a Power Ranger at the same time, as a 12 year old kid," Justin said.

"Because of you, something I've always wanted is going to happen again - something I always pulled for..." Trini said as she broke down in tears. "They're going to get back together..."

The youngest Earth Ranger in history took a step back, in full knowledge that Earth's first Yellow Ranger didn't break down like this very often.

"Just promise me one thing, Justin," Trini said as she tried in vain to hold back her tears. "Please don't sell yourself short. Don't think there's a thing you can't do. Kim and Tommy back together is about the least likely proposition I ever expected to happen, and you did that."

He nodded as she took a step back.

"And promise me one thing," he said. "If you see that guy who ruined Kimberly's life at anytime, don't hesitate to let him know that Tommy and Kim said hi. That will sting just as much as a punch to the gut."

She nodded, and took a step back.

"Goodbye Justin, and always remember...may the Power protect you," Trini said.

Mesogog's Underground Base

Unknown Time

Proudly walking into Mesogog's throne room after completing a very hard 24 hours, Zeltrax stood beaming with pride at the turn of events.

"Well?" Mesogog boomed.

"Here is your newest monster - the one which will put those Rangers in a situation they will never escape. Behold - Portaltron!"

Upon Zeltrax's signal, his monster walked into the throne room. He was actually a gladiator like monster, with a sword and shield, as well as two hand-held cannons that contained powerful energy.

"How may I serve you, Lord Mesogog?" Portaltron said as he bowed before the dinosaur like creature.

"Ah, one that asks ME how I can be served. Exxxxxxcelent!" Mesogog hissed. The others clapped their approval as well, including Zedd.

"Your instructions are as follows. In a few days, we will lure the Rangers into a major battle. When we do, here is what I want you to do..."

Saturday, August 1, 2004

10:00 a.m. local time

Reefside, CA

They stood across from each other, panting heavily. For both of them, it had been quite a workout.

When Dulcea had asked Trent to face her in single combat in the lower arena of Mystic Mother's palace, she intended to use it as a way of mentally getting him ready for the tests that would be coming his way - maybe a 30 to 45 minute segment over the next couple of days.

She had not expected a four hour slugfest that had now pushed the experienced Master Warrior to her very limits. But Trent, clothed in his gold uniform, had indeed acquitted himself very well and had shockingly matched her move for move, drawing the slugfest out. Even when she went to her animal form, which typically befuddled those who had come before her, he'd solved that also.

"One more?" she asked.

"Yeah," Trent said. "I believe it's your move."

"Indeed it is," With that, she charged him again, and swung her sticks at him.

But she hit nothing but air, leaving herself open. Knowing he didn't have much time, Trent slammed his boot into her stomach, knocking her down.

Amazingly, Trent was standing over her, and said, "I win."

"Yes, you have won," she said as she shook her head while getting up. "You wore me out, my love. You wore me out. Usually those who face me for the first time throw heavy haymakers and are worn out quickly."

"I'm stunned, really," Trent said. "I knew I was good, but not THAT good. Hopefully I'll be that good the next time I go to battle."

2:00 p.m. Pacific

Conner was sitting in Hayley's Cyberspace, playing a game of arena soccer on arcade

As his team put one in the net, he shouted, "GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL! Take that, Beckham, you prick!"

"Wow, a little excited aren't we?" came a voice from behind him.

Conner smiled knowingly at who his visitor was - T.J., Tommy's Red replacement and later part of the Space team.

"T.J. man how ya doing?" Conner said.

"Chilling. Just chilling," T.J. said. "You're becoming a real expert at that game. Wanna challenge me at my game?"

Knowing there was an arcade baseball game nearby - and knowing that T.J. made a hefty chunk of change while coaching the University of California - Santa Barbara Gauchos baseball team, he decided to go for it anyways.

"Yeah, why not. After all, your wife did challenge me to single combat this morning," Conner said as he flashed T.J. a smile. "You're on."

As they played, the two struck up a conversation.

"You know, your wife Delisha is really cool. I know Justin doesn't think so, but I do," Conner said. "Where did you meet her - she seems rather alien and if I remember hearing correctly she once belonged to Divatox."

"Yeah, she did," T.J. nodded. "Divatox was turned good, back to Deanna at the Countdown, and as a reward, Deanna's sister Dimitria who happened to be our mentor at one time, revived Delisha and purified her too. Delisha was kind of loyal to Deanna even when she was bad. If you want to get technical, I first saw her after I replaced Tommy in late 97 but that didn't go so well - we had to beat her in battle and that wasn't easy. But where she and I really hit it off was after the Forever Red mission in 02."

"Forever Red?" Conner said.

"Yeah. Bunch of us had to gather to destroy Serpentera again. One nasty-ass battle machine," T.J. said. "Anyhow, Delisha got close with the rest of our team, and kind of bounced around for a while with her fashion sales until KO-35 after Forever Red, which is where she and I really saw eye-to-eye with each other. I was sort of skeptical because she and Divatox kind of messed up our team back in the day - even though Ashley and Andros were telling me how different she was as compared to the first time - but she and I really hit it off in 02. She loved me from the word go. One year later, she's in Santa Barbara where I am and we were married. She was Ennivel, but now she goes by the married last name of Johnson like me."

"How much money does she make from her fashion sales?"

"Oh, those have become universal-famous, and she makes quite a bit of dough," T.J. said. "Her sales are part of the reason she and I own a pretty luxurious house in the 805 - it's not uncommon to see her take off for another planet for weeks on end. She's told me many times that her fashion sales is her way of making it up to us for what she did."

Just then, Conner's controller, Carl Pavano of the Yankees, fired a fastball past Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels for a strikeout.

"Nice pitch," T.J. said. "Vlad's always tough."

"Yeah he is," Conner said. "Much as I hate to admit it, Angels always give the Yankees problems."

"2002, baby, 2002," T.J. said, referring to the Angels World Series championship year, when they beat the Yankees along the way. The reference made Conner briefly grimace, as he'd had to deal with Angels fans for weeks on end after the Yankees had been eliminated that year. "On a serious note, Conner, Delisha said the same thing about you to me."

"That is?"

"She thought you were really cool too. We've both seen you fight and I want you to know that she and I support you."

"Really? I don't even get support on my own team!" Conner said. "Everyone thinks I'm a jerk!"

"All Reds go through a period like that," T.J. said. "Hell, as a former Red myself I thought Andros was kind of a dictator when he ran the Space team - at least when he wasn't hanging all over Ashley. But seriously, you've got talent and you led the Rangers over Mesogog the first time. Mesogog's a toughie, doesn't matter if he's not Lord Zedd, Rita, Mondo or Divatox. Yeah, you say some stupid things, but when haven't we said stupid stuff?"

"It's nice to see I have some support in the Red fraternity. You're cool too T.J. Thanks," Conner said.

"Don't mention it," T.J. said. "Remember: Believe in yourself, and you will conquer. I know my beloved would tell you the same thing."

Monday, August 3

7:00 p.m. local time

Athens, Greece

"That will be $310.52," said the waiter after several of the Rangers had finished dinner at their hotel.

It had been a rather extravagant dinner - and one the Rangers had never expected. Jason had wanted to go check out the town, but Tommy had decided against it, not wanting to get themselves in trouble in rush-hour Athens traffic.

"That was, quite frankly, better than I expected," Jason said. "But next time, I get to make the decisions on where to eat, bro, and that's final."

"You wish," Tommy laughed as he lowered his voice. "Remember who's had the most colors around here."

"Do you notice two people missing from our group?" Adam said. "And do you notice who those two people are?"

"I knew Justin wasn't here," Kat said, "and now I think I know who the other one is. Probably out there making sweet love to one another."

"Uh, let those two go," Jason said. "Like our friend said, he deserves his time in the sun."

"Boys, I'd say you're missing more than two from your little group. Besides, one of em is dead," came a familiar voice. The Rangers all looked around and at each other, wondering who might have said it.

"Uh, it's just me guys," someone said as a familiar figure stepped out of hiding. A tall, slender man who had seemingly kept in shape, he certainly had a COPS look about him as he walked towards the group. He also was wearing a Chicago Cubs baseball hat.

"Well, look at what the plane dragged in!" Rocky said.

"Very funny, Rocky," Jason said as he smacked Rocky in the head.

"No, it's really me guys," the newcomer said.

"Lieutenant Stone, I can't believe it," Adam said, as he went up and hugged the Rangers' old friend police officer. "But what the hell are you doing here?"

"Uh, what else would I be here for, Park? The Olympics!" Stone said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Imagine my surprise when I turned on HBO the other week and found our old friend on television."

The Rangers nodded, fully aware that they were still staring at a daunting task ahead of them, though it could be conquered.

"Got some tickets from some clients here in Europe. You guys probably don't know this, but growing up in Chicago I lived for sports and entertainment, and I always loved the Olympics. And since Kimberly was going to be competing here, they figured Ernie and I would want to come."

Every single group member's eyebrows were raised at the mention of that name.

_Ernie._

"Is he here, by chance?" Rocky chanced to ask.

"Yeah. We actually just got right off the plane and came in for dinner. He's still back at the room setting up stuff. By the way, where are all the rest of the members of your group?"

"Uh, we got two on the beach and the rest couldn't come," Tommy said.

"You're telling me Tanya and Billy aren't here for this?" Stone said. "Wanna tell me why, cause I think I have a pretty good feeling what it is."

'_Should we tell him_?' Jason looked at Tommy.

'_Yeah_,' Tommy thought. '_If he saw the HBO show he probably knows who we are_.'

"Uh, you can't tell anyone this," Jason walked up to Stone and said, whispering all the while, "but we are THEM."

"Yep, knew it," Stone said. "Had to figure, after I saw the special on HBO. After she said that she was the first Pink it was pretty easy to put two and two together. Your secret's more than good with me, kids. Was Ranger services needed?"

"Yeah," Tommy said as he walked up to Stone. "I actually, uh, have a team of my own back in the city of Reefside, and the three people that hate me most, Lord Zedd, Goldar and Mesogog are all back thanks to Zedd's son. Tanya and Billy decided to stay to help my team."

Stone nodded grimly, admitting that while he didn't know the ins and outs of Ranger business, that if Zedd was indeed back that the current team would have a tough task indeed.

"Well, it was nice to see you all," Stone said. "Wanna tell me where Aisha and Justin are?"

"Uh, out on the beach," Rocky said as the Rangers walked out after paying the bill. "Believe it or not, they've eloped."

"They've eloped?" Stone said. "Oh my God, I can't believe it. What the hell are those two thinking? I gotta see this, for reals."

Seconds later, Ernie walked in to join Stone, and noticing Stone's tense look, asked him, "Jerome, what's going on?"

"The guys - you know, THE guys, are pretty much all here," Stone said. "And I think you probably know why they're here - yes, even Tommy."

"No way," Ernie said, in disbelief. "They're here? Where are they?"

"They WERE right there," Stone said, "but just walked out. You just missed em - I didn't."

"DAMN!" Ernie near shouted.

"What's more, I've got breaking news," Stone said. "You know that young boy that's a part of their group?"

"Yeah, I think Justin's his name," Ernie said. "What about him."

"He's eloped with Aisha," Stone said. "And supposedly, they're right here on the beach."

"Oh my God, Stone, we've got to go see this," Ernie said. "An 18 year old with someone seven years older? No way."

"Reservation please," said the person at the front of the restaurant.

Stone," came the lieutenant's voice.

"30 minute wait, sir," the person said.

"Perfect," Stone said. "Ernie, let's go!"

Mesogog's Underground Base

"Is all ready?" Thrax bellowed.

"I believe so, Thrax" Goldar said.

"Yesssssssss, it is," Mesogog said. "The end of the Power Rangers issssssss at hand."

"Launch the attack at once!" Zedd shouted.

TBC....


	12. 12: Lost in the Desert of Destruction

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: I also don't own the Calgary Flames, L.A. Kings, Stanley Cup or anything related to the National Hockey League. I should also mention I don't own anything Major League Baseball related.

Chapter 12 - Lost in the Desert of Destruction

Monday, August 3, 2004

7:45 a.m. Pacific

Reefside, CA

"Man, I'm going to enjoy this place as long as I can," Trent Fernandez said as he got up from his guest-bed in Mystic Mother's palace.

He'd been there for the last 3 days, almost impatiently waiting to get out there for the fight he had been told would be coming his way.

And really, he was surprised that Mesogog and Zedd hadn't attacked yet - nor did he know what they were going to do.

"Knock knock!" came a voice from outside the door. "Trent you up?"

"Yeah. Give me a second," he said.

He opened the door to find the woman who was once Rita Repulsa - the woman who had allowed him to stay the past couple of days after Dulcea had brought him in in the first place. "Good morning," Trent said.

"Good morning, yourself," Mystic Mother said. "Mind if I join you?"

"Sure," Trent said. "I do want to say something - thanks for having me the past couple of days. Thanks for everything you've done."

"The pleasure is all mine, Trent," she said. "And thank you for being a pleasure of a guest to have. Would you like to know why I allowed you to stay the past couple of days?"

"Tell me," Trent said.

"Sometimes, Trent," Mystic Mother said as she sighed, "we have to bend the team rules a little bit. I already know what's going to happen to your teammates, actually, and it's not going to be pretty. You'd almost certainly be joining them if you went into battle with them, which would deprive us of a legitimate response to a possible attack on Reefside."

"Because my Zord," Trent nodded, "Is the only one capable of transferring to Warrior Mode by itself."

"Excellent, Trent!" Mystic Mother beamed approval of his answer. "No wonder you beat Dulcea."

"Yeah, it sucks to be away from my teammates, but as hard as it is to say, it unfortunately sounds necessary. Would you mind telling me what's going to happen to them? Don't worry - I can take it."

"Your friends," Mystic Mother said, "are going to be sent to a dimension that makes the Island of Illusion seem like a playground - which, actually, it is now. It's called the Desert of Destruction and it's the most horrible dimension you can ever imagine. No Power Coin, no powers, no communicator, you'd be totally on your own. And also, I don't want Anton yelling at us that we lost his son in some freaking desert."

"Yeah, my father gets angry when I get missing," Trent said. "Fortunately for you he's out of town right now. Can I ask what the Island of Illusion is?"

"Well, it WAS very similar to the Desert of Destruction. One of the spirits I used to command, called Lokar, sent your mentor and his friends to this dimension way back in the day. It was a dimension that preyed on someone's lack of confidence. How they survived I still don't know. If they hadn't somehow found confidence you wouldn't HAVE a mentor right now."

Trent nodded with a gulp.

"Actually, when we win and get Kimberly back, you'll see this dimension. I spruced the place up after the Countdown. Place even has a couple of resorts now. I'm planning on that being the place for the victory party."

"So you mean to tell me my friends will survive?" Trent said.

"Yes, I believe they will," Mystic Mother said. "As long as they keep together as a team. This will be the biggest test they ever face."

Trent nodded, knowing that if true, his team would indeed have a full plate to deal with.

"So can I ask a question."

"Yeah. Go ahead."

"What about Master Vile?" Trent said. "Was he - REALLY - your father? Or did something happen otherwise?"

"Well, to be real honest," Mystic Mother said. "I'm from Eltar, like Zordon and my REAL father was a REAL alcoholic. He was a great sorcerer back in his day but he abused Eltarian alcohol every single day. He abandoned me out of the blue one day - and that's where Master Vile came in. So he turned me to Rita Repulsa, and that's what I was for tens of thousands of years. I'm very saddened to know that you were abandoned once - you should be lucky that Anton came to your rescue."

"Is Master Vile still around?" Trent said.'

"No. Died in the Countdown," Mystic Mother said. "Have you met my army yet?"

"You - have an army? As well as all the tricks you can do with that wand of yours?" Trent went wide-eyed.

"Heh, you like all the stuff I can do with that wand, huh?" Trent nodded vigorously. "And yeah, even the second most powerful person in the universe behind Zordon has to have an army. Why don't you go get showered up and after breakfast you can meet them face-to-face. All past female creations, of course. Because you know females get the job done more than males."

"Yeah, you would say that," Trent said as he headed to the shower in the adjoining bathroom.

Meanwhile...

By now, Hayley Johnson had been able to get into another routine.

Get up, shower, go to Dr. Oliver's home and spend most of the morning there, go run her Cyberspace, come back to Dr. Oliver's at night and stay there briefly, then go home.

And so it was that Hayley was at Dr. Oliver's place, when she saw the original mentor of the Earth Power Rangers walk into the living room to sit down.

"Good morning, Hayley," Zordon said. "I hope life treats you well this morning?"

"Yes, it does," Hayley said as she let out with a slight chuckle.

"I haven't asked you yet," Zordon said, "but how long have you known Dr. Oliver? Because I don't ever remember him knowing a Hayley before his college days."

"Yeah, that's where I met him," Hayley said. "In college - graduate school at MIT. I've been one of the few people to break his personal barriers, one of the few people he's ever trusted with every single one of his secrets."

Zordon nodded, knowing that Tommy let very few people close to him in his life - only Jason, the old Kimberly, and Hayley had ever been close enough to him to where he'd shared most of hs secrets with them.

"Kimberly was always the one he told every single one of his secrets to," Zordon said.

"It's just sad to see what's happened to her, and him. I have four dreams - one of which has already come true this year. Another one is to see Tommy truly happy again," Hayley said.

"So I assume you're ready to watch the Olympics with us?" Zordon said.

"Well, yeah, I'm ready to watch the Olympics. But not on an American channel. American coverage of the Olympics is horrible," Hayley said.

"Hey! I heard that you Canuck!" Tanya said from the kitchen.

"Oh, shut it Tanya!" Hayley said. "You know that CBC's coverage blows American Olympic coverage off the face of the Earth!"

"CBC?" Zordon said.

"Canadian based TV station," Hayley said. "I'm not from the United States - I'm from Canada actually. Calgary, to be exact. And it's true - CBC's coverage of the Olympics does blow NBC out of the water. You can't even watch the Games on NBC live here!"

Zordon nodded, then beckoned Hayley's attention again.

"I hope you know that you and your team won't have Trent with you in the next fight," Zordon said.

"Zordon, we're a team. Why can't we go in there full strength?"

"Because Zedd has opened one of the most horrible dimensions in the universe - the Desert of Destruction - and I assume that's where he's going to try to put you in his next attack. We can't afford to lose our WHOLE team to that dimension. Sometimes I have to bend the rules, and this is one of those times."

"But what's the difference with Trent?" Hayley said.

"He's actually got a Zord which has a warrior mode," Zordon said.

Bitterly, Hayley nodded her respect.

"You've helped command your troops flawlessly here for years," Hayley said. "I respect your decision."

Zordon nodded as he headed back into the kitchen. As he went out, Billy came in and sat down next to Hayley.

"Calgary, huh?" Billy said.

"Yeah. Home sweet home to me," Hayley said. "I'm just a prairie girl from Calgary that's living out a dream. And as someone from Canada who hasn't even spent all her life in the States, I feel privileged to have played such a huge role in Tommy's life."

"Hey, did you think Katherine spent all her life here?" Billy said. "Kat's from Australia, in case you didn't notice. Here, we respect people from other countries. But tell me, just how do you propose to get CBC when we're here in Southern California?"

"My personal computer," Hayley said. "I won't bother Tommy's computers, but I will definitely bring my personal computer and use some of the things I have to get the CBC signal on my computer. It's worked before."

"I talked to Justin earlier this morning," Billy said.

"And?"

"According to him, Tommy's just now beginning to heal. He's just playing it loose, waiting to come back into Kimberly's life when the Games start."

"For six years, I've seen Tommy hurt every single day I was with him," Hayley said. "For him to be happier than I've ever seen him - that would simply be a dream come true for me."

"So I guess you could say it would be a second dream come true?" Billy said, which made Hayley smile.

"Considering my beloved Flames just played in the Stanley Cup Finals and damn near won it, then yes," Hayley said.

"I went to hockey games when I was a young lad," Billy said. "My old man liked it - we had tickets to the Los Angeles Kings back in the day, before I became a superhero and all. Canadians usually travel very well to Southern California - there were always good crowds when a Canadian team was playing the Ducks or Kings. As such, I have great respect for Canadians' passion for that sport. Tommy and Adam like it too."

"Hell, it's the only thing we know how to do better than anyone else on the planet," Hayley said. "They didn't win it this year, but it was a dream come true to see them in. They won the Cup in 1989 but I was too young to appreciate it. I'm sure this probably isn't surprising to you, but as they went through the playoffs I was getting texts from Tommy and Adam every time we advanced. My mother called me from Calgary during the Finals - it was crazy up there, I just wish I could have been there."

"So, who do you pull for come this Olympics? You know Kim competes for the United States," Billy said.

"Oh, I'm rooting for Kim," Hayley said. "But otherwise, I'm Canada all the way, always. No offense, Billy, but whenever someone from Canada - individual or team - is on, I always pull for Canada. Especially when it comes to hockey in the Winter Games. No TRUE Canadian worth his or her salt would root for an American individual or team over a Canadian individual or team. Even if it's from Edmonton."

"No offense taken - I respect it," Billy said as he pecked Hayley's cheek with a kiss. "It's called pride in your country - don't let the American people bother you about it."

8:45 a.m.

Trent was headed down to the arena with his hostess wondering - what kind of an army did she have?

Waiting for them were five curious creations - all female.

"Greetings, Majesty. How goes it this morning?" one of them said. "Who is that with you?"

"Ladies, allow me to introduce a part of Dr. Oliver's recent team of Power Rangers, Trent Fernandez-Mercer, Gold Tiger Ninja," Mystic Mother said. "This guy defeated Dulcea within the last 24 hours."

Eyebrows were raised amongst the females. One of them said, "Sounds like a challenge to me."

"Nope, no challenge," Trent said, vehemently shaking his head.

"Trent, you disappoint me," Mystic Mother said with a faux frown. "But anyways, enough of this. This, right here is my army. Every single one of these creations went against the Rangers at one point in time. I don't use them in battle because I don't need to. But they show you a good time."

Trent nodded.

"Center one is Nimrod the Scarlet Sentinel, who I stole from Lord Zedd's services - she's an old friend of his. Zedd and his son stole my Impursonator first, so I figured it was only fair if I pilfered one of his friends. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth thing. She's also given this group leadership."

"The rest of em, from second in command on down," Mystic Mother said as she pointed. "Madame Woe, old friend of mine and second in command. Dischordia, who used to belong to Master Vile, is third in command. Miss Chief is next, and the final one is Arachnofiend."

"Nice," Trent said. "I wish I had my own posse. Who granted you right to an army?"

"Zordon," Mystic Mother said, "after I helped Justin keep Kimberly afloat with her confidence. He thought it was a just reward, and gave me right to pick the members. I wouldn't trade anybody for these five girls, Trent."

"Really? Could I possibly trust them around me?"

"Absolutely you can," Dischordia said as she blew him a kiss. "We just have one request."

"And that is?" Trent said.

"If you do happen to face any one of us in a training session, please do not hit any of us below the belt. That's dishonorable and it's not nice. Even when we were bad girls, we wouldn't hit Rangers below the belt," Madame Woe said. "So please don't do that."

Trent smiled. '_Yeah, I think I can trust them now_. _Hitting someone below the belt is indeed dishonorable._'

"You know what, girls," Trent said. "I might consider a training session down the road. Dulcea was fun - maybe you girls will be too. Right now I'm kind of pressed for time though."

"We understand," Miss Chief said. "Time is kind of short right now. But maybe later you'll consider it."

Suddenly, Dischordia snuck up behind him and grabbed him in a chokehold. Already on the alert, Trent simply elbowed her in one of her chestplates, sending her stumbling backwards.

"Good job," she said. "Just wanted to see if you were paying attention. Kiss me."

"Can't. Not with Dulcea around," Trent said.

"She does it with other people too. Did it last night with Zordon," Dischordia said. "It's not a matter of love although she does love you. It's a way for her to reduce stress when she gets too much of it in her body. Try it. I don't mind."

As Trent's lips locked with Dischordia's, sure enough, he could feel the stress leaving his body - and he'd had some of it since he'd been anticipating having to fight off Zedd and Mesogog's entire army.

"You kiss nice," Trent said. "Thanks."

"The pleasure is all mine," she said. "You know where to find us if you need another one."

10:00 a.m.

1492 Valencia Drive

Reefside, CA

Everything was quiet, too quiet.

Until the alarm started blaring, sending everyone into panic mode.

"Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi!" Alpha 5 shouted, as he started spinning crazily. Principal Randall smiled as she watched him - she thought Alpha was a cute little robot and admired what he'd done for Zordon all these years. "Mesogog has sent down another monster!"

"It is the one I feared most, Alpha," Zordon said as he came into the basement. "It is called Portaltron. This monster is more powerful than any of the monsters Mesogog has ever sent, and has the power to blow the Rangers into the Desert of Destruction."

"OH NO! Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi - not THAT place!" Alpha cried.

"I'm afraid so, Alpha," Zordon said. "Do not interrupt Trent, but contact the other Power Rangers immediately. They must be notified of this threat and then they must stop it from destroying the city. Make sure to tell them Goldar and Scorpina are with them."

"I'll do it, Alpha," Billy said. He pressed some buttons and then said, "Rangers, come in. Mesogog has released another monster. Meet me in Reefside Park effective immediately. Trent you stay."

"Why can't he join us?" Conner pouted. "This is bullshit! We're a team!"

"He's not joining us for a very good reason, and I'm going to explain it to you after all of this is over," Billy snapped. As much as he'd hated Zordon's decision, he knew it was the right one. "Now let's get going. And Conner, uh, watch your language."

"Right," Conner said grumpily. "It's Morphin Time."

"Green Ranger Power!"

"Orange Ranger Power!"

"Blue Ranger Power!"

"Gray Ranger Power!"

"Purple Ranger Power!"

Reefside Park

"Great," Conner muttered as they all landed in the park, as he caught sight of Goldar, Scorpina, and a platoon of Putties and Tyrannodrones. "Not only do we have this new baddie to deal with, we have monkey breath and scorpion lady to battle with too!"

"Watch your mouth, lest we shut it, Green Ranger," Goldar roared. "Where's your Gold Ranger?"

"We don't need him to beat your goons," Kira shouted. "We're still a team, and even short-handed, we still have a chance!"

"Oh, really?" Scorpina sneered. "We'll just see about that. "Putties, Tyrannodrones, get them!"

For 20 minutes, the Rangers fought off the seemingly never-ending platoon of footsoliders that were coming their way.

But even as they defeated the last footsoldier, it was quickly getting evident that the Rangers were getting tired, which was exactly how Zedd and his army wanted it. The more tired they were, the more it would help tie into their plans.

And nearby, Portaltron was getting ready - he had the group right where he wanted it.

"You fools are finished!" Scorpina roared as she and Goldar sent vicious laser blasts that rocked the Rangers to their core.

And then Portaltron took out a laser gun and fired to a certain spot, opening a portal.

He then pointed his weapon at the Rangers menacingly, poised to deliver what for him would be the final strike.

"Say goodbye, Rangers!" Potraltron roared. "When Zedd gets through with you, you will be no more!"

With the weapon charged to full power, he fired the gun. It didn't hit the Rangers on impact, but it did create a gravitational pull which sucked the Rangers closer to the portal - and then successfully into the portal as the villains cheered.

"That's five down and one more to go!" Goldar roared as the villains headed back to Mesogog's underground base.

Meanwhile...

The Rangers zoomed through time and space, until they landed hard at their final destination - unmorphed.

They looked around, and saw nothing but open desert in front of them. Miles and miles and miles of sand, with no end in sight.

"Everyone OK?" Conner said.

"Far as we can tell," Kira said. "Where are we?"

"The place where we face the biggest tests of our young lives," Billy said, addressing the teens.

"What? You know this place?" Ethan said.

"Never been here, but Zordon told me about this place today," Billy said. "This is precisely why Zordon asked Trent to stay away from this battle. Welcome to the Desert of Destruction."

"This place is freaking creepy," Kira said.

"Watch what you say," Billy said. "The baddies upstairs can probably hear our every word right now. Keep quiet, and be ready for ANYTHING."

Tuesday, August 4, 2004

11:00 a.m. local time

Athens, Greece

As practice ended that day, Kimberly could barely keep from breaking down into tears. It had already been the most happy day of her life.

There, sitting right there in the stands, were eight of her closest friends. No ninja masks, no nothing. Those WERE her friends, all sitting and cheering wildly.

'_How could I not have KNOWN!' _Kim said to herself, '_that THOSE were the guys in the ninja suits_!'

It should have been so easy for her to figure out, but yet the 'guys' had her hoodwinked.

Even better, were two more of her old friends sitting in the stands - none other than Ernie and Lt. Jerome Stone.

As the girls moved to talk to the media, Kim instead raced to the stands, and barreled towards her friends.

Not surprisingly, Aisha was the first to greet her longtime friend, and Jason was next, followed by Justin.

"I can't...believe it...you guys...made it here..." Kim nearly sobbed. "Is this really happening."

"You're damn straight it is, girl," Aisha said. "We're here and we don't intend to go away anytime soon."

"Wh - where's Tommy? Why isn't he here?" Kim said.

"Oh, he's HERE," Justin said. "Just not HERE - in the building. Trust me, he'll be here for the competitions. Right now, he's worried about other matters altogether."

"I wanna see him! I wanna see him!" Kim shouted - almost like a baby.

"Shhhh, girl, he'll be here for the competitions. He's more than ready for them to start," Aisha said.

Suddenly, Kim spotted Adam on the phone with someone, and she caught him saying the following words, "Oh God, Ninjor, no, please no...Please don't tell me the kids are in that much danger..."

And with that, Kim simply lost it and snapped, "Adam, give me that phone right this instant!"

"Uh, yeah, sure, give me a second," Adam said. "I believe that some Crane wants to speak with you, Ninjor. Hold it just a second."

He gave the phone to Kim, who pretty much ripped it out of Adam's hand before pressing the speaker to her ear. "Uh, hello?"

"Hello, my Crane," Ninjor said. "Are you well?"

"I'd be better if I didn't just hear that a team of Rangers is in danger," Kim said. "What's going on?"

"Uh, how shall I say this," Ninjor said. "Your Falcon has his own team of Rangers..."

"Tommy has HIS own team?" Kim said, astounded. Just WHEN did he become ANYONE's Zordon?

"Yes, my Crane," Ninjor said. "And Lord Zedd just sent five of the current six to a horrible dimension, 10,000 times worse than the Island of Illusions could ever be."

"Wait, you just said Lord Zedd?" Kim said. "But he was DEAD!"

"Evil never dies, my young Crane," Ninjor said.

"Oh, my goodness, I hope for their safety," Kim said. "May the Power protect them all..."

"The Power will indeed protect them, my Crane," Ninjor said. "You best worry about being with your friends, and getting ready for the Games. May the Power protect you too."

As the line clicked dead, Kim turned to face her friends again.

"Well, I guess we have a lot of catching up to do, don't we?" Kim said. "Why don't we do lunch?"

"Sounds good to me," Jason said.

Mesogog's Island Fortress

"Great job, all of you guyssssssss," Mesogog hissed.

"I was happy to do that," Portaltron said. "Those Rangers are HISTORY!"

"Well, not all of them," Lord Zedd said. "There is still one left."

"And we both know that that one left can be the most dangerous," Thrax said.

"Relaxxxxxxxx," Mesogog said. "The one that's left is about as fragile as a basssssss fiddle. He will be easy to agitate and destroy. Once he is out of our way, then we can proceed to destroy Zordon, and the world!"

"Yes, yes!" Lord Zedd shouted. Finally, those wretched Rangers would be defeated. "Bye bye, Power Rangers!"

TBC...


	13. 13: Defining Moments Part 1

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: I also don't own the Calgary Flames, L.A. Kings, Stanley Cup or anything related to the National Hockey League. I should also mention I don't own anything Major League Baseball related. I also don't own Dance Master, Falcon4Crane does.

A/N 3: Seven of Kim's friends were with her at the end of the last chap. Not eight. Just to clear that up.

Chapter 13 - Defining Moments Part 1

Mesogog's Underground Base

"So, do we attack right away, Masters?" Goldar said.

"I sssssssssay we attack now," Mesogog said. "Their Gold Ranger will be ssssssso not ready for the attack he won't know what hit him!"

"No. Not just yet," Zedd said. "Did you notice how they deliberately kept him out of that battle?"

"I did, my Lord," Scorpina said. "Zordon likely did that on purpose - to make sure there was still some form of resistance to our attacks. Their young Ranger probably KNOWS we're going to attack at some point. Wait two to three days and watch him tighten up. If we attack in 48 hours, he'll be as tightly wound up as a ball of yarn!"

"On second thought, I agree with thissssssss," Mesogog said. "Thissssssss Ranger's emotions run very fragile, very fragile indeed. If we keep him waiting, he'll get over-agressive, wild and all over the place. It will be much easssssssier to beat him then!"

"You seem to know how to beat him," Zedd said. "How do we do it?"

"Wear him down," Mesogog said. "As I said, his emotionsssssss run fragile. He won't be able to hold a ssssssssustained resistance if we put presssssssure on him consssssstantly."

"And I know just the monster to beat him at the end of that maze," Thrax said as he pointed his staff towards Earth.

"What do you have in mind, son?" Zedd said.

"My latest creation, Dance Master," Thrax said. "If we put that creation as the very last one that young Ranger will have to face, he will not beat her. For to beat her, it takes concentration, good footwork, agility and speed, and an ability to dance, all of which my latest creation has down to an art. He stands no chance against her if we put her in the right position and that young Ranger in a bad position."

"Once again, son, you have learned to play the game well," Zedd said. "Goldar! Go fetch some of my most powerful creations! I want the best, and only the very best! Scorpina, go fetch my son's latest creation! We attack in 48 hours!"

Desert of Destruction

"Man, I'm hungry!" Conner wailed as the teens kept walking through the vast, expansive desert that was Lord Zedd's dimension.

Indeed, the teens and Hayley were tired, starving for food and water alike, and just wanted to get home.

Only Billy seemed to be keeping his cool, which unnerved the others to no end. How could he POSSIBLY keep his sanity when the others were about to drop dead anytime now?

"I know what you're going to ask before you ask it, so let me answer the question," Billy said as he turned to face the others, a serious look on his face. "Don't act like you're just giving me those looks for nothing. I know those looks anywhere. And to answer the question, I'm keeping my cool because I was in a situation exactly like the one you're in now."

"You mean you've DONE this before?" Kira said, eyes wide with shock.

"Apparently, your mentor didn't keep files on the Island of Illusions, but I still remember it. Mystic Mother, back when she was Rita, controlled this dimension back in the day. It was a tropical island that was all her own. It was an island that preyed on the things that worried us most."

"You mean, our worst fears?" Conner said.

"Affirmative," Billy nodded. "This desert is apparently much the same way. I've seen you be a good team, guys. But this is the moment where you must become GREAT - realize just how good you can become. These, my young friends, are your defining moments. Either you realize them, or you shall cease to exist."

Mesogog's Island Fortress

"I don't like that Blue Ranger of theirssssssss, Zedd," Mesogog growled as he watched the group from his island home.

"Oh he's good, no doubt," Zedd retorted, the face under his mask turning into a snarl. "He has foiled many of my plans, and obviously learned from Rita's Island of Illusions. But let's see how he handles this latest challenge."

Desert of Destruction

All of a sudden, Billy began to sway back and forth wildly, as he was somehow losing control of his balance, almost hypnotized by Zedd's latest spell.

"Uh, Billy, are you OK?" Hayley said. What the Rangers saw when Billy settled was a Billy they didn't like. The second they saw his eyes flashing red, they knew they had problems.

Conner looked at his teammates and mouthed, '_Uh oh_.'

Suddenly, Billy reached out and grabbed Hayley by the neck. Furiously, he dragged her into a nearby sand dune and planted her there.

For five whole minutes he kept beating her into the sand, beyond angered.

"You vile scum!" Billy shouted. "You should have BEEN there for Tommy when he was so heartbroken! He still has nobody to love, and it's all YOUR fault!"

"Billy, please stop!" Conner shouted. "We don't need this!"

"You keep out of this, young one!" Billy said to Conner. "You've got enough problems to keep you busy."

10 minutes later, realizing she wasn't worth the effort, Billy gave Hayley one final shove, and walked away. His eyes turned next to Conner, but before he could do anything, he could feel his body leaving him.

"Wha - what's happening with me?" Billy wondered.

"You're, you're disappearing Billy," Kira said.

Billy nodded. Just over ten years earlier, he'd been in the EXACT same situation - on the Island of Illusions, with his body threatening to be put out of existence forever.

"Must - think - of an example of teamwork...soon..." he muttered.

Amazingly, Hayley had recovered enough to give him some encouragement.

"Come on, Billy. You can do this - you can beat the odds," she said.

"I - I remember when we had to use our Power Coins to bring Zordon back after he brought Tommy back the second time. It wasn't easy, but it had to be done..." Billy said.

With this fond memory of that moment, plus the ensuing fight with Dramole, Billy's body came back into view.

And not only had he rescued himself, a surge of energy went through every single other Ranger's body.

The first thing Billy did after coming fully into view, taking back both his morpher and communicator in the process, was hug Hayley and apologize.

"Uh, I'm really sorry I did that," Billy said.

"It's OK - just one of Zedd's spells, I guess," Hayley said.

But no sooner had they broken their embrace than Billy felt himself being pulled into a portal. It was the portal, the Rangers could only guess, that would take Billy home to Reefside.

"Billy don't leave us!" Kira cried.

"Remember - stay together as a team...stay together as a team and you will see home again..." Billy said. Then, he was gone.

"Damn!" Ethan huffed. "We just lost our most experienced veteran."

All of a sudden, the Rangers gasped.

In that bright blue sky was an image of the one and only.

Lord Zedd.

"Holy s-" Conner said before he was cut off by an elbow from Kira.

"Oh, worry not young ones. Your older friend will find safety back at your soon-to-be-destroyed hometown," Zedd cackled. "That's more than I can say for the rest of you, anyhow."

Conner wanted to say something but wisely shut his mouth. Maybe, he figured, if he shut his mouth his trial would be less challenging.

"What's the matter, interlopers? Nothing to say?" Zedd cackled.

"All I can say, you big ugly beast, is that you're in for the shock of your life," Kira declared. "We may not be the originals, but we certainly can hold our own."

"Oh, we'll see about that when I have a hold of you and put you out of commission, forever!" Zedd cackled. With that, he disappeared.

The Rangers looked at each other after that, with the same thought amongst all of them.

"Man that guy's ugly," Hayley said.

"You're telling me," Kira said. "And I thought Mesogog was gross."

"Guys!" Conner piped up. "We CAN beat him! Do you remember what Billy said?"

"Didn't he say something about sticking together?" Hayley said. "That might hold some credence. After all it wasn't until he turned on me out of the blue that he started disappearing."

"I'm fully convinced that if we never let him turn us against each other, we can get home," Conner said. "Come on, guys! Focus! You've gotta believe! We got a mentor and his friends in Europe counting on us!"

"Now THERE's the Conner I like," Kira said. "There's a leader, right there."

"Remember, also, the number of times that you've been tested as a team but won as a team," Hayley said. "Focus on those and we will conquer."

Tuesday, August 4, 2004

12:30 p.m. local time

Athens, Greece

"So, I'd like to know about this team that Tommy's got," Kimberly said as she and her seven friends sat in a tavern near a quiet residential area of Athens - it had quickly become one of Kim's favorite places.

"I'll take that," Adam said. "First of all, you should know that Zordon is back."

This declaration made Kimberly's mouth drop in shock.

"No way," Kim said.

"Way, girl," Aisha said. "We saw him. He's alive."

"Oh my God - I'd better see him at least one more time."

"Oh you KNOW you're going back to Cali with us, girl, when this is all over."

"Ah, California," Kim said. "Home sweet home, and it's about damn time I returned."

"Anways," Adam said. "Tommy's team. I met them through their Yellow Ranger and current Orange Ninja Ranger, Kira Ford, who I recruited to my wife Tanya for her band. Kira is...how shall I say this...every Yellow Ranger in history rolled into one."

Kim was dumbstruck. How in the WORLD could one of Tommy's team be interested in music - like she'd been once upon a time? And Adam was married to one of THE most famous singers in the world today!

"Anyways," Adam said, "Conner McKnight is their Green Ninja Ranger. I kind of look at him as a Jason before Jason matured and came into his own as a leader. Ethan James is pretty much Billy - except he's into gaming. Trent Fernandez, their Gold Ninja, is going to be the one who gets the brunt of Zedd's attacks now. His story is very similar to Tommy's but with more family ties - his father was actually their villain, Mesogog. Hayley Johnson, who is one of the many teammates we get from out of country as she is from Calgary, Alberta in Canada, was Tommy's college heart-to-heart and was the technical advisor behind the Dino Thunder team. She's now the Purple Ninja Ranger."

"Kim, I've seen these guys and the camaraderie they have," Jason said. "I think these guys are the closest thing to our original team. I hope the Desert of Destruction doesn't tear them up because those guys are too good for that."

Suddenly, Kim's mouth dropped open at the sight of Justin wrapping his arm around Aisha's shoulders.

"Get your hands off my best friend right now young man!" Kim snapped.

"Uh, girl," Aisha said, as she simply shrugged. "He's allowed to do that. That boy is mine, all mine."

"WHAT?" Kim shouted. "Aisha Marie Campbell, you are NOT serious..."

"Serious as a heart attack," Aisha said. "He's super smart, well-disciplined, hardened by how his time as a Ranger came to an end, has more pure athletic speed than most of the guys in our group, and has a hybrid fighting style that none of you have ever seen before. I challenged this guy to a duel back in Reefside and I simply couldn't keep up with the kid - he wore me out! And besides ALL that, he's a cutie! So somebody here better explain to me why I shouldn't be giving him a hell of a look!"

Kim was dumbfounded. Justin was great, no doubt. But how, just HOW, could someone with a good job, good money, at 25 years old be attracted to someone who was barely 18, if that?

"Anyways, Kim," Zack said, "we were, uh, kind of interested to know about your future after the Games."

"You know, guys, I'm surprised that didn't come up earlier," Kim said. "Honestly, I love gymnastics but these events now are starting to make me rethink. I love gymnastics, but I think I love Tommy more."

"Perfect," Aisha said. "Tanya needs someone to really help make her music great. Ever since I've told her you're interested in music and shopping, she has had her eye on you."

"Music was always my second interest," Kim said. "What would Tommy think of this?"

"Sis, he would LOVE it," Jason said. "And so would I. Tommy and I are both big fans of Tanya's music - hell we all are. Tanya, Kira and her have put together some of the most eclectic, upbeat music I've ever heard. They combine dance, R&B, pop rock and pretty much everything in the book. Her first album is going to be a smash, I can already tell you right now."

"Quite simply, she's the most popular singing star in the USA since Madonna," Justin said. "And, she's better than Madonna."

"I'm definitely interested," Kim said. "Adam, you would have some of her music, right?"

"In the midst of taking care of a baby boy and doing everything else, yes I have some of her music because I knew you would ask about it," Adam said. "Here's some of her music that I've burned to a CD, and here's my phone number. If you're interested, just give me a call and if you want in, we'll talk to Tanya after the Games."

"Guys, I'm just wondering. What happened to Billy? Is he back on Earth?" Kim said.

"Yeah he is back home," Kat said. "Unfortunately he just couldn't be here. The threat was too serious."

"Where is Tommy's team anyways?"

"Reefside," Adam said. "Ever heard of it?"

"I've heard of it," Kim said. "Never been there though."

"It's a nice town," Rocky said. "I think you'd like it."

"Are we doing OK, everybody?" the waitress said as she came by and spoke to the group in broken Greco-English.

"Just fine, ma'am," Justin said. "Check please."

Wednesday, August 5

10:30 a.m.

Reefside, CA

By now, Trent Fernandez had grown impatient.

Where was the attack he knew would be coming?

He had to admit, he'd been anticipating Zedd and his cronies to attack soon after they'd trapped the other Rangers in that desert. Where the hell was the attack?

Just then, he heard a noise from the other hallway - it sounded like a young child screaming. In the distance, he could hear Tanya yelling, "MATTHEW PARK GET BACK HERE!"

"That's odd," Trent muttered. "Usually he's pretty quiet."

Still, here Tanya's kid was, barreling towards him. Instinctively, he first blocked the hallway, disallowing the child to go any further than he was going.

Then, he reached out and picked up the child and asked, "Hey, little buddy, what's with the crying?"

Seconds later, he heard foosteps coming towards him, and that's when Tanya stepped into view.

"Oh, thank God you're here," Tanya said. "Thank you for corralling my child. I don't know what his problem is today."

"Well, he's all yours now," Trent said, as he handed Matthew to Tanya and followed her back towards Matthew's crib.

"It's funny, I'm trying to take care of the kid and he's been causing havoc all morning," Tanya said as she walked back to Matthew's room and scolded him, getting back to work on him as she did so. As she went back to work on Matthew, she suddenly looked at Trent. "What's the matter, hon? Wanna talk?"

Trent simply nodded, worry still creasing his face.

"It's about the impending attacks isn't it?" Tanya said. "Honey, you're so wound up right now that it would take serious work to loosen you up."

"Yeah, it is..." Trent said as his voice began to crack. "I'm really, really scared - how in the world am I supposed to handle whatever Zedd's going to throw at me..."

'_Too predictable_,' Tanya thought. '_An inexperienced Ranger facing a defining moment and not knowing it_.'

"Trent, there's no shame in feeling scared about the current situation," Tanya said. "But you also need to know that it can be done."

Trent nodded assent as his eyes locked with hers.

"Adam told me this when I first came here and became a Power Ranger," Tanya said, "that every single one of us has had a defining moment that has marked our legacies forever. When Adam sent Goldar packing with his stupid little Mirror of Regret, that was Adam's defining moment as a Power Ranger. Adam also told me many times that Tommy and Kimberly are two of the ultimate Ranger legends because their names have been etched in so many classic battles and moments since Zordon called those five teens to his former Command Center 11 years ago. This just so happens to be YOUR defining moment."

"That still scares me..."

"As I said, it's natural to feel that way, that the whole weight of the entire world and a group of veteran Rangers rides on your shoulders. But you simply can't think that way. There's one more thing that Adam told me when I took on the responsibility of being a Ranger.'

And that is?" Trent said.

"That as long as you know you did the very best you could do, that's all anyone can ever ask of you. I knew when I handed my powers over to Ashley that I'd left everything on the table, that I had positively nothing left to give."

"Thank you for being here for me," Trent said. "I sometimes wish that not everyone would take the hard-ass stances against me like Tommy and Conner have done sometimes. It's burdened me quite a bit."

"It's called they expect a lot out of you," Tanya said. "That's why they're leaders and it's why they're the best of the best. I know my place - I'm no leader, I'm a facilitator. I choose to make everyone happier with my presence instead of burdening them with expectations. Just know this, my friend - the will is inside here," Tanya said as she pointed to her own heart. "And THAT, my friend, is where it matters."

"Uh, am I missing something?" a voice came from the doorway.

"BILLY!" Tanya shouted as she raced to her old friend and embraced him. "I thought we'd never see you again!"

"You didn't really think I was going to succumb to Lord Zedd's evil, did you?" Billy said with a grin.

"Where are the others?" Tanya said frantically. "Are they OK?"

"They're tired, they're spent, but they're OK, for now," Billy said. "Much like Tanya just told you, Trent, each of them has a defining moment coming up. If they want to ever see home again, they must realize that defining moment and conquer it. Just like you'll have to very soon, Trent."

TBC...


	14. 14: Defining Moments Part 2

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: I also don't own the Calgary Flames, L.A. Kings, Stanley Cup or anything related to the National Hockey League. I should also mention I don't own anything Major League Baseball related. I also don't own Dance Master, Falcon4Crane does.

Chapter 14 - Defining Moments Part 2

Wednesday, August 5, 2004

12:30 p.m. Pacific Time

Reefside, CA

"Hey, guys!" Tanya exclaimed as another girl wearing Yellow (who looked somewhat Caucasian) came in the door. He was followed by a man wearing red - not of Earth descent. "We didn't expect to see you here!"

"Hey, Tanya," the girl said. "Is this the one Ranger that's left right now?"

"Well, yeah, kind of although Billy came back," Tanya said. "Trent, meet Ashley, former second Yellow Turbo and second Space, and her husband Andros. Guys, this is the new Gold Ninja Ranger, Trent Fernandez."

"Pleasure to meet you," Ashley said as she extended her hand, which Trent readily shook.

"He seems kind of shy," Andros said.

"He's feeling a lot of pressure right now," Tanya said. "I think that's probably why you two were called here and why Carlos and Cassie have been put on notice in case they're needed."

"I think I can take care of that," Ashley said, more than confidently. "I want to talk to DJ but that can wait - let me spoil this guy here first."

"Trust me, you're gonna like my wife," Andros said, grinning. "She is going to spoil you rotten."

"What are we waiting for?" Trent said. "Let's go ... do stuff!"

"Uh, OK," Ashley said. "See you guys later!"

Desert of Destruction

"Oh crap," Ethan said as he suddenly spotted Tyrannodrones around him. Hundreds and hundreds of Tyrannodrones.

"OK, guess I'm outnumbered. Gotta go at them one by one," Ethan said as he suddenly kicked and punched at what he thought were drones.

Only to hear the voices of his teammates, shouting, "Ethan, what the hell's wrong with you?"

"We're you're friends!"

"What are you doing?"

"It's us, come on, stop!"

"No! You're Drones! You must be destroyed!" Ethan said as he ravaged his friends, knocking them all to the ground again. "That's for all the times you've made fun of me for my gaming habits!"

Now, it was Ethan who suddenly felt something strange.

"Great," Conner muttered. "Now it's Ethan too!"

"Come on Ethan!" Kira shouted. "Focus! Think of teamwork!"

"You guys ... I got trapped in that video game one time..." Ethan said. "But you guys were there for me, and we beat back that threat together..."

"Yes! You're doing it!" Hayley shouted.

"I ... can't believe I did that," Ethan said. "I love you guys..."

With that final declaration, Ethan finally came back into view, much to the delight of the rest of the Rangers, who all slapped him on the back and, quite simply mugged him.

"Hey, you guys! Save your energy!" Ethan said. "You're going to need it!"

"He's right," Kira said. "Hey, there's the portal, Ethan! You got your morpher and communicator?"

"Yup," Ethan said triumphantly. "See you guys at home."

With that, Ethan stepped to the portal, and to safety.

10:30 p.m. local time

Athens, Greece

"I still can't believe Kim nearly did that to us," Justin said as he curled up next to Aisha - the two were watching a late night movie that wouldn't last much longer.

"Don't worry about it," Aisha said. "I think she's just shocked. At some point she'll remember what Veronica nearly did to both of us and she'll shut up."

"Veronica? Who's Veronica?"

"You didn't go to school with Veronica?" Aisha said.

"Apparently not. I think I've heard that name once or twice from Kim though."

"Veronica is...how shall I say this, she is the most selfish, spoiled girl I've ever seen," Aisha said. "She hates me and everyone else associated with this group to this day because none of us have as much money as she does with maybe the exception of Tanya. Never mind that all of us have good paying jobs but I have the displeasure of working with her and I have to hear her drone on about how Kim won't come close to winning gold. Be thankful that currently you don't have to deal with her like I do - although if we get married you will be dealing with her at some point."

"Why would anyone hate someone just because of money?" Justin said. "Makes no sense."

"You're right that it doesn't, but then again Veronica doesn't make sense. Know that she's gonna be getting in your face the closer you get to me and the more success Kim gets," Aisha said. "Can I tell you a story, sweetheart?"

"Any time."

"Have you ever heard of the Angel Girls Club? I know you have."

"Yeah, it was popular when I was at Angel Grove High."

"When I was in school, Veronica ran that club. She excluded me because I made less money than she did. It took intervention on Kim's part to help the girls start a crusade to get her kicked out eventually. And Kim and I aren't the only ones she's caused trouble for."

"Oh?" Justin said.

"Yeah. Apparently after I left, Adam and Tanya became an item in part because of Veronica - who eventually started dating Tanya's FIRST boyfriend. They married too. Veronica always has scoffed at Tanya even though Tanya has obviously hit it big now. She keeps bragging to this day that Shawn could kick all of our asses to this day, and she keeps flaunting to me about how Kim 'wised up' and left Tommy eventually."

"She obviously knows nothing about this group, or Kim and Tommy. Only someone ignorant would say something like that. I'm surprised a punk like that would even find someone delusional enough to date her for a while. Never knew anyone like that when I was in school," Justin said.

"We could flaunt the impending return of this group's top couple in her face but I don't think it would accomplish anything," Aisha said. "What's even more sad is that she only came out of hiding after Trini left for Switzerland. She wouldn't dare mess with Trini because even she knew Trini back in the day would have verbally murdered her."

Suddenly, they heard a phone ring.

"That's my phone," Justin said, "...and, it's Tommy's house. Someone's trying to reach me probably for a status update."

Aisha promptly paused the movie as Justin answered his phone.

"Hello?" Justin said, "Oh, hi Delisha. Status update I assume?"

"Yep," Delisha said. "I'm happy to report that half of our team is back together."

"Great. Who's all back?" Justin said.

"Billy and Ethan have just returned to join Trent. We're waiting on Conner, Kira and Hayley. I don't know if they're still out there, but if they are they've gotta be dead dog tired."

"Yeah. In a desert too," Justin said. "Is Trent doing OK? Last I heard from you guys he was as nervous as any guy you've seen."

"Ashley came back and is taking care of that problem," Delisha said. "I'll let you know the status."

"Thanks. Keep me updated - I miss TJ and you both," Justin said. "Tell TJ I said hi."

"Will do. Ta ta for now," Delisha said as the line clicked dead.

"Three of the team back?" Aisha said.

"Yeah. Billy, Ethan and Trent are now back together," Justin said. "Any thoughts on that?"

"That's ... a really interesting strategy that they went after the smart guys first," Aisha said. "I think it's a big mistake because now Conner and Kira are for now, together to help with one another. Although, one of em will have to do it on his or her own. I think now that they've gotten through the first couple they might just pull through. But we'll see."

6:30 p.m. PDT

Reefside, CA

"Man, what the hell are you so jump for joy about tonight?" Ethan said. "Last I heard you were tight as a ball of yarn! What gives, man?"

"The coolest friend in the world," Trent said. "Ashley, the cheerleader, right here. She did whatever I would like her to do. Go to the beach, out to lunch, you name it, she did it. Man, I feel REALLY good tonight!"

"He was real easy to get along with, mainly because he doesn't take a lot of the stuff he has for granted," Ashley said. "We just got in a nice little groove and I just rolled with it."

"Andros, you married a fine woman," Trent said.

"Just remember, your Ashley is out there, waiting for you downstairs," Andros said. "And by the looks of things, she's been dying to see you for a while. She just couldn't be with you earlier because of some business."

"Oh shit!" Trent said. "I better get down there!"

With little regard for his body, he fairly flew down the stairs, and out of sight of the rest of the group, causing the rest of the group to laugh.

"So now what?" Ethan said.

"Now we sit and wait for Conner, Kira and my girl to come back," Billy said. "And you get to eat. You're fairly starved to death. I was, too, until lunch."

"One of us needs to challenge Rocky at an eating contest," Ethan said as he followed Billy into Dr. Oliver's kitchen. "I bet one of us could beat him."

"Trust me, any one of you would lose against Rocky in an eating contest. He eats the most food out of anyone I have ever had the privilege to lay eyes on," Billy said. "What would you like to drink?"

"Coke, please, if possible."

"You got it."

Thursday, August 6, 2004

9:30 a.m. PDT

Reefside, CA

Tanya was just chilling on the couch, doing one of her favorite things of her and Adam's - the daily crossword puzzle.

She'd felt glad that Hayley had come back - she'd had her test right around the middle of the night, and come back home about 11:30 - and went right to sleep. Billy and Hayley were actually cooking breakfast at the moment - and it was a big one, too.

"Man, that is a TOUGH one," she said. "I'll have to ask Adam about that one. Probably should check the SUDOKU section for today to see what's up with that - that might be workable today."

Suddenly, his phone rang. Tanya smiled when he saw the name 'Hart, Kimberly' on his screen. Apparently she'd made a decision.

"Well?" Tanya said.

"I would be HONORED to join you and Kira when I come home," Kim said. "Put me on the list."

"OK," Tanya said. "We can work out a contract when you get home. You'll probably have to sit out the first couple concerts but we'll get you in real quick."

"You have better music than I could ever have," Kim said over the phone. "And damn it, it is pretty eclectic! Shawna was wondering what the hell I was playing when I put that CD in there! She's probably still wondering."

Mesogog's Island Fortress

The sight on Mesogog's base was truly hideous to behold, indeed.

Lord Zedd, indeed, had gathered some of his toughest creations and had them more than ready for a battle. He'd even gotten them back by giving them incentive to destroy the younger Rangers - that if indeed they were successful, that they would get freedom to go after the older Rangers and wreck the Olympics.

Zedd knew he could waste no more time. Even as he started to put Conner to the test, he knew that four of the Rangers were together again. He, his son and Mesogog could waste no more time.

"OK, then, is everybody ready?" Thrax shouted.

"YES WE ARE!"

"When do we attack?" Peckster shouted.

"We attack ... NOW!" Zedd shouted. "Remember, Dance Master, don't show yourself until it's time!"

That monster, which was clothed in purple, humanoid and was even wearing a skirt like was seen on most of the Ranger uniforms, nodded as well.

"DESTROY REEFSIDE!" Zedd shouted as the monsters disappeared.

TBC...


	15. 15: Defining Moments Part 3

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: I also don't own the Calgary Flames, L.A. Kings, Stanley Cup or anything related to the National Hockey League. I should also mention I don't own anything Major League Baseball related. I also don't own Dance Master, Falcon4Crane does.

Chapter 15 - Defining Moments Part 3

Thursday, August 5, 2004

9:30 a.m. PDT

Reefside, CA

His sixth sense told him today would be his defining moment.

Yet, he never felt more ready in his life.

If one were to look at Trent Fernandez right at the moment, he or she could have described Trent in several ways. He was loose, he was confident, he was having fun.

Some could even say he was a little bit on the cocky side.

"Bring em all on," Trent said. "I'm well trained and I'm ready for this."

"Confident aren't we?" came a female voice from behind him.

Trent spun around to find out who made the voice - and standing in front of him was a large, orange humanoid female tiger with huge claws, which made Trent backpedal a little bit.

"Hey, don't be backing away," the tiger said. "I'm a friend, not a foe. You're not scared of me, are you?"

"Uh, I kind of am, considering I don't know you at all," Trent said.

"Don't worry about her," came another voice as Mystic Mother came running out. "That's a sixth member of my army, Tigress, that you haven't met yet. She's just out looking for food and stumbled upon you. Don't worry about her. I recreated her when I was granted an army. She actually used to wear clothes when Kat was in that body, but I did some refurbishing. She was out the day you met the rest of my crew."

"Actually, I came out to talk to him, Mistress, not just to look for food," Tigress said, which raised Trent's attention.

"OK then, well I'll leave you be," Mystic Mother said as she headed back out of sight.

"You want to see me, really?" Trent said, as he walked up to Tigress until they were but inches apart.

"Yeah, just have a seat for a few minutes," Tigress said. "I can see you're really confident."

"I think I'm trained well and I'm ready for this though I'm not going to show it outside the group," Trent said. "I'm not tense like I was two days ago."

"It hurt me to see you tense, it really did," Tigress said. "I'm glad the girls got you loosened up because as someone who shares the same animal as your Ninja spirit, I feel responsible. It hurt me that I couldn't do anything about it."

"You know, we really do share the same qualities, don't we?" Trent said. "We're both coiled up for quite a while, but when we're both loose..."

"Your confidence and your spirit is well founded," Tigress said. "You are outnumbered, but you are not outgunned. Just remember a few things."

"And those are?"

"Be fast on your feet, for one thing. Remember to be aware of potential sneak attacks from behind. Think on your feet is what I'm saying," Tigress said. "Also, try to conserve your energy. Remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint. Don't use too much energy at the beginning, you won't have enough left for the end. Remember this, also - if you can't make it all the way through the Turbo team is now one again - don't feel like a failure if you can't make it through. And most importantly..."

"Yeah?"

"Remember the dance lessons you've had with Dischordia the last couple of days. My mistress says you might need them. Oh, and Trent?"

"Yeah?"

"Just know that you're representing all of us lions, tigers, cats of any kind because you're the only one on this team that has one for an animal spirit," Tigress said. "Do us proud, my friend. Most of all, make me proud. As a tiger myself, I share a bond with you unlike anyone else."

"Evil shall never prevail," Trent said. "Consider it done."

"Uh, I'm sorry to break this up, but it's time," Mystic Mother said as she came running out.

"Let's go!" Trent said as he followed her to the basement.

Five minutes later, they rushed in, only to see Goldar, Scorpina, Putties and Peckster in the area.

"And there's more disturbances in the area!" Alpha 5 wailed.

"Trent," Zordon said. "Also in the area is Thrax's newest creation, Dance Master. I think they're holding her towards the end in an effort to wear you down. Conserve your energy and remember the lessons you've learned. You will need quick footwork and a strong mind in order to defeat her. Go, and may the Power protect you."

"It's Morphin Time!" Trent shouted. "Gold Ranger Power!"

As Trent left, Zordon turned to the group of Turbo Rangers - they were all together now sans Justin (and Tanya had his powers), as Cassie and Carlos had come in the previous evening. "Are you all ready to go in case he falters?"

They all nodded.

"Good," Zordon said. "You will be the backup if something goes wrong. Be ready. Trey, remember to have Pyramidas ready just in case."

"He won't need backup, Trent's going to be fine anyways," Dischordia said. "If I had money I'd bet it that he'd beat the Dance Master. I can dance too and he held his own with me!"

Desert of Destruction

They hadn't quite dropped yet, but they were damn close to doing so.

Not only did Zedd have Trent where he wanted him (outnumbered and outgunned), he had Conner and Kira totally starved, totally parched, in an endless desert and he hadn't even tested them yet.

It looked totally helpless for the two, until they suddenly felt themselves being strengthened - and it wasn't even of their own doing.

And then, suddenly, by some act of God, they felt some energy from out of nowhere coursing through them, and they stood up with at least some vigor left.

'**Hold on to your hopes, spirit brethren,'** Conner and Kira heard.** 'We are here to help. Hang in there - if you survive the impending test you will be home in a few minutes**.'

Suddenly, Conner came after Kira, and Kira started backpedaling in fear, so much so that she nearly killed herself by tripping over a snake. Still, Conner advanced menacingly on her.

"How can you do this to us - TO ME?" Conner howled. "You're gonna go out doing your singing while we're fighting Mesogog! How CAN you!"

Kira simply just continued to backpedal.

"Nothing TO say?" Conner snapped. "You're a WHORE. A damn WHORE!"

"Conner don't do this!" Kira barely blurted out.

"Oh, but I'm going to!" Conner said. But before he could do anything else...

"Oh my God, no way..." Conner gasped as he felt himself disappearing.

"Conner please don't leave me," Kira said. "Fight it!"

"Oh, man, there are so many examples of teamwork..." Conner said, "but I remember the time when I came back from soccer to rejoin the team when I realized that the team is more important than me. I had to realize, as tough as it was, that if we were to save the world, that I would have to put soccer behind and focus on the team and more important things..."

And just like that, Conner came back into view, at which time Conner and Kira shared an embrace that they would never forget.

"I'm sorry, Kira," Conner said. "I hope to heaven that you can forgive me."

"You know I can," Kira said. "Hey, look, we BOTH have our communicators! We're FREE!"

"I guess it just took one of us and tested one of us," Conner said

"There's the portal!" Kira said. "Let's go HOME!"

"Right. And let's REST," Conner said as he stepped through the portal that would lead them home, finally.

Within mere moments, the desert was silent.

Reefside Park

It hadn't taken long, but Trent was already in trouble. He'd handled Goldar and Scorpina and the Putties fairly easily, but Peckster was continually using his beak to keep Trent at bay. As Peckster's beak slammed into him once again, Trent flew backwards, struggling to get up.

"All right, that's it!" Trent said as he stood up. Slowly, he reached for the power that came with his animal spirit that was locked deep inside him. Feeling it coming to the forefront, Trent waited for Peckster to charge him again, then when he got close enough, he used the surge of power in one devastating punch which sent Peckster flying 100 yards across the park.

Peckster couldn't manage to stay on his feet and disappeared in a flash of light. But just as soon as he was gone, Trent was cornered by a ferocious knight who charged right at him.

**'Wait. Conserve your energy and hit him with your own when he's not ready for it,' **Trent thought.

For ten minutes, the Nasty Knight tried to level Trent with haymakers, but Trent managed to deflect them all.

Then, Trent started throwing punches of his own, sending the Nasty Knight reeling. The Knight tried to retaliate but he was too worn out from his earlier barrage.

**'Wait...wait...wait, he's not ready! He's backpedaling! Do it!'**

Trent quickly gathered his energy and flung it at the Knight. The Knight tried to get his shield up but it was to no avail as Trent energy ball smashed him to smithereens, never to be seen again.

But Trent was barely able to celebrate when he was cornered by a big, black beetle.

**'A BEETLE?' **Trent thought. **'Surely, they MUST be joking**.'

But this was no joke, as Trent immediately found he would be having trouble with the Stag Beetle, who was both quicker and faster than Trent was.

For ten minutes this went on, Trent with a futile effort to get a hit on the Beetle, and the Beetle countering by beating back Trent's attacks, and then hitting him with his pinchers. Fifteen minutes later, Trent was obviously on the ropes.

"And now, Gold Ranger, I think it's time we ended this game!" Stag Beetle said, giving Trent some bad vibes, whatever he was about to do wasn't going to be good.

But just as Stag Beetle was about to activate its energy drain, Trent was suddenly nowhere to be found.

"What? Where'd he go?" Stag Beetle said.

For five minutes he looked around and, curiously, saw no one in the area. The remaining creatures Zedd had brought back were still out of sight as well as the Dance Master, leaving him wondering.

"All right, Gold Ranger, come out!" Stag Beetle shouted. "Just come out now and I'll make the rest of your Ranger time quick and painless!"

Suddenly, Stag Beetle was tackled to the grass from behind by Trent, who had just pounced - yes, pounced - out of the trees. Stag Beetle could, literally, do nothing as Trent continued firing punches. And then, just as Stag Beetle got back to his feet, Trent bounced off a tree and smashed Stag Beetle into another tree with a vicious corkscrew kick.

"Now, I think it's time **I **ended this game!" Trent shouted, as he took out his Blade Blaster, switched it to Blade mode, and slashed Stag Beetle right in the heart before it could do anything else, completely destroying it.

But Trent couldn't celebrate this victory for long, because next out came a vicious goat monster obviously itching for a fight.

The two dueled evenly for 20 minutes, neither one gaining the advantage. Then, fate dealt Trent a terrible blow when he tripped over a piece of debris, sending him face first to the grass. RoboGoat was quick to get the advantage as he struck Trent repeatedly with his rod.

Trent, it seemed, was out for the count.

Then, as RoboGoat prepared to deliver a final strike, Trent somehow got the back of his foot out and connected with the goat's chest, sending him stumbling backwards.

"All right, you overgrown goat!" Trent said as he got to his feet. "Time for you to go back out to pasture!"

Trent reared his hand back, and one could feel his animal spirit coming alive in a deadly suckerpunch that connected with RoboGoat's jaw. RoboGoat never got up again as he blew up in a shower of flames.

But Trent didn't have any time to celebrate his victory at all.

Next came a huge mollusk monster, one Zedd affectionately called Turbanshell, that was already giant sized.

"Uh oh," Trent muttered as he backpedaled away from the threatening new menace.

Suddenly, he heard his communicator beep, and dived behind a bush.

"This is Trent, I read you."

**"Trent, this is Billy. You can't fight this guy straight up. You have to beat him another way. Follow my directions to the letter and you'll beat him."**

"What do I do?"

**"Get downtown and I'll be there in a second - I have a device which you'll need for this fight. You actually have to get inside this guy's body as crazy as that sounds."**

"Very well," Trent said and climbed out of the bushes.

"Hey, Turbanshell!" Trent shouted. "Catch me if you can!"

With that, Trent took off on a dead sprint for downtown.

"Oh, damn it!" Turbanshell shouted as he took off after Trent, scaring civilians in the process.

Meanwhile, the Dance Master continued to hide in the bushes. Unbeknownst to any of the group, the Dance Master was not simply a monster.

Ten minutes later, Trent arrived at his destination, with Billy waiting for him well ahead of the slower-footed Turbanshell.

"Here, Trent. Take this, and get inside this crate to your left. He'll eat it up and you'll be inside him. Once inside, hit him with this device constantly. I'll take care of the rest," Billy said.

"Very well," Trent said as he dived inside the crate, moments before Turbanshell came running around the corner.

"What's this?" Turbanshell shouted. "Another stray Ranger?"

"You remember me, don't you shell breath?" Billy shouted.

"Ah yes, the former Blue Ranger. It will be a pleasure to destroy you, after I eat my lunch!" Turbanshell shouted.

Quickly, he devoured the crate, just as Billy said he would.

As Turbanshell began to make a move towards Billy, however, he shouted, "Oh, no, not again! Heartburn! No!"

Billy smiled inside, and smiled even more when he saw a firehose nearby.

"How about a little shower, shell breath?" Billy said as he sprayed the monster with water.

As before, the monster's shell was immediately frozen on contact.

"Trent ... should be out ... right ... now!" Billy said. Sure enough, Trent came flying out of Turbanshell's mouth, landing hard on a sidewalk.

"Can you take care of this nuisance right here?" Trent said. "I gotta get back to deal with any trouble at the park."

Just then, Trent heard his communicator beep again.

"I read you."

**"Trent,"** Zordon said. **"The Dance Master has moved her location, she is a few miles south of downtown. I will teleport you there momentarily."**

"Are there any more disturbances besides her?" Trent said.

**"None. This is your final hurdle,"** Zordon said. **"Do not worry about Turbanshell, Billy can take care of him with the Blue Shogunzord. May the Power protect you."**

"Right. Time to go dance," Trent said. "Here goes nothing."

Moments later, he landed just south of downtown, and spotted the disturbance.

"Ah, there you are, Power Ranger," Dance Master said in a sickeningly sweet voice. "I've been looking all over for you. Are you ready for me to dance you right into oblivion?"

"Or maybe I'll dance YOU right into oblivion," Trent said.

"Mighty confident, aren't we?" Dance Master said. "Talk is cheap until you can beat me, Gold Ranger."

As Trent grabbed the Dance Master's hand and began, he nodded. This was going to be fun.

**'Thank you Dischordia,'** he thought.

**Flashback, sometime Tuesday**

**"There you go, Trent, nice and easy," Dischordia said. "You're doing fine. Just watch my feet and move with them. You've got some nice moves of your own."**

**"Tell me why I need this again?" Trent said. "Not that I'm against it, you dance beautifully and I'm happy you asked. I'm just wondering."**

**"My mistress asked me to do it," Dischordia said. "Somehow, she thinks you might need this at some point."**

**"Why didn't she ask Dulcea?"**

**"She did. Dulcea said as good as she is, she sucks at this and wouldn't be able to help you much. And Tanya's pretty busy right now as it is."**

**Suddenly, Dischordia picked her right foot up and slammed it against the ground, which Trent somehow followed in unison.**

**"Good job. Just had to throw you a curveball but you adjusted well," Dischordia said as she and Trent continued to rock back and forth, hands intertwined. "You know what she also said?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"Follow your heart."**

**"What do you mean by that?"**

**"You'll know when you need to."**

**End Flashback**

20 minutes later, they were still going step for step, and the Dance Master couldn't believe it.

She was getting equaled, if not bettered, by the young Ranger standing in front of her. Every time she would pick up the pace, Trent was picking it up with her.

And then something even more amazing happened - the Dance Master was the first to trip, and Trent was let go of her grip as Dance Master crashed to the grass.

Mesogog's Island Fortress

"Master, we have to get her out of there!" Goldar roared. "Save her for another day!"

"No. Let her waste. If she can't outdance a young Ranger then she isn't worthy of our time," Zedd said. "I've got bigger plans for the Dino Thunder Dorks - and the older Rangers too. Let that young Ranger have his victory."

Reefside Park

"This is Trent. I read you," he said into his communicator.

**"Trent, this is Billy. I just ran a scan on the Dance Master, and that person behind that outfit is actually a human," **Billy said. **"If you destroy her high-heels the spell will be broken."**

"Somehow, I get the feeling this isn't an ordinary human but someone you veterans know," Trent said.

**"Yes, but we'll go through that later,"** Billy said. **"Right now, just make sure she comes free."**

"So, Gold Ranger, are you ready for Round 2?" Dance Master said as she and Trent came face-to-face. "Or are you chicken?"

"Actually, I think it's time I ended this game, once and for all!" Trent said, as he pointed his blaster directly at the Dance Master's feet, and pulled the trigger.

What followed was an arsenal of laser beams which smashed into Dance Master's high heels, obliterating them.

With an earth-shattering scream, the Dance Master slowly began to lose her powers.

Finally, as the last bit of purple energy died away, it revealed a young, early 20s aged redhead sprawled on the grass.

"Great. Now what?" Trent muttered, knowing she'd come to pretty soon.

**"Hey, this is me again,"** Billy said over Trent's communicator. **"You can come home and celebrate your victory. I'm sending the Space team out to check on that girl. I'll tell you who she is later. It's pretty important."**

"Right," Trent said. "Take THAT, Lord Zedd!"

With that, he teleported back to Dr. Oliver's base, and no sooner had he landed than he was getting slaps on the back, congratulations and everything else that came along with a huge victory. Dr. Oliver's residence right now was, indeed, a madhouse.

9:00 p.m. local time

Athens, Greece

And so was Athens.

Before they'd all left, Zordon had inserted a small device into each of the Rangers' cellphones, so that if a battle ever came up they could all watch it. He was working on one for Kimberly but he was saving that until Tommy and Kim got back together, which wouldn't be long now.

"He DID it, my love! He DID it!" Aisha hollered as she pulled Justin to the beach in a massive hug.

"Can you BELIEVE that?" Rocky hollered as he went up to high five his best friend Adam.

Zack was partying like a madman right now. He hadn't thought there was a chance in the world that Trent could stand against that army - wouldn't say it but didn't believe it. He had thought Trent was too young, too soon.

Jason and Kat were exchanging hugs, relieved that a Ranger who they felt sorry for (especially Katherine, who had also been under evil's grip at one point) had come through in the biggest test of his life.

Tommy, however, was a lot more subdued.

"GUYS!" he hollered.

"Yeah bro?" Jason said.

"Did that girl who became the Dance Master look familiar to any of you? She sure looked familiar to me..." Tommy said.

"You don't mean..." Aisha said. "No way, Tommy."

"Way, Aisha," Tommy said. "That was Kimberly's cousin Kelly - do any of you remember her?"

"I sure do, bro," Jason said. "This is a rather serious situation, even in victory. I hope Kelly's psyche won't be fragile."

"I can't stand this any longer, guys. I gotta go talk to Kim about this. Sorry to cut it short but this reunion has to come NOW," Tommy said as he hustled off the beach, across the hotel to the rental car that the group would have while staying in Athens.

Reefside, CA

"You were wonderful out there, Trent," Principal Randall said as the celebration continued.

"A marvelous job indeed, by someone who has proven himself now to be a force to be reckoned with," Zordon said.

"Thanks for saving our bacon, Trent," Hayley said, as she proudly wore her #12 Calgary Flames Jarome Iginla jersey. "Sorry we put you in a bad situation but thank goodness you were ready for it."

"Are the rest of the guys OK?" Trent said.

"Yeah, they're all back and they're all sleeping. I've got a big feast planned for them because they need to eat ASAP," Tanya said as she embraced Trent.

"After that win, Tiger," Dulcea said as she embraced him next, "you're pretty much entitled to whoever and whatever you want."

"What do you mean?" Trent said.

"Follow where your heart leads you, Tiger," Dulcea said. "I love you to pieces but if someone else comes along who captures your heart, I won't be hurt."

"Really?"

"Really," Dulcea said. "I made a mistake. I should have let you evaluate everyone here and THEN I should have come. I came to you much too soon. That's how I still want it. Don't shut everyone else out because of me. You have tons of suitors here - don't ignore them."

As the two released, Trent came face to face with the Mystic Mother.

"That was a truly marvelous job, Trent," Mystic Mother said as she gave him a gigantic hug. "We are all proud of you. You have continued a long, storied tradition which your mentor started - someone who started out on the side of darkness who has come back into the light and performed well. Congratulations on your biggest victory and here's to many more."

"We are all your friends, Trent," Miss Chief said. "For that win alone, if you ever need ANYTHING, do not hesitate to ask. Any one us, including myself, would trip over our own two feet to be your number one."

Spotting Dischordia, Trent walked up to her.

"I don't know how to say this, but a million thanks for those dance lessons," Trent said. "I enjoyed them very much and they obviously had a benefit."

In a soft tone that was once loud and raspy, Dischordia said, "No thanks were needed, Trent, but I enjoy your company very much. I wish that we do it again soon."

As soon as he got done with the other members, he saw Tigress racing towards him. Simultaneously, Trent raced towards her and the two tigers, real and spirit animal, embraced for ten whole minutes.

"I don't know why, but your presence means as much to me as anyone else in this room," Trent said. "Ooh, nice and soft."

"It's all fur, sweetheart. It's all fur. Hold me for as long as you want."

"Did I make you proud?" Trent said.

"Is that even a question? Of course you made me proud, dear," Tigress said. "I am proud to call you a fellow tiger. Tell me your dreams."

"I dream that I could have a guardian angel," Trent said. "Not a lover because I could pick from any one of those five or stay with Dulcea. But I need someone to watch over me. My father's not home all the time, my mother died five years ago and my brother and sister aren't around to take care of me anymore either."

"I would be honored," Tigress said. "As a mother tiger would take care of her children, so I would be happy to look out for your well being."

"Would you? Could you?"

"You don't even have to ask, I will," Tigress said. "As was said earlier, we share a bond that you share with no one else here. I can't promise you the world, but I do promise you a place where you can come and feel safe if problems arise and Anton's not home."

Athens, Greece

Kimberly laid in bed, smiling to herself.

The team had its last major practice earlier in the day, and would only run through some light workouts in preparation for the Olympics.

And she had never felt better. She had her friends again, was on top of her game, and best of all, she was under the radar. As much of a Cinderella story as she was to the media surrounding the Olympic Games, most had several of the Romanians and Russians as better balance beamers than her, which she considered ridiculous.

Besides, what had she to lose.

And then, much to her surprise, she found a hand wrapped around her. It was big, it was muscular and it was male - and it was really familiar. From the looks of things, this male had also been sitting in her bed for some time.

"Earth to Beautiful, wake up."

That aroused her immediately.

"No way. No way on God's green Earth...could it be?"

TBC....

**A/N: Yes, the reunion officially begins next chapter.**


	16. 16: The Reunion Part 1

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: I also don't own the Calgary Flames, L.A. Kings, Stanley Cup or anything related to the National Hockey League. I should also mention I don't own anything Major League Baseball related. I also don't own Dance Master, Falcon4Crane does.

A/N 3: Yes, it's the reunion all of you have been waiting for and there's more to come. Enjoy.

Chapter 16 - The Reunion Part 1

Friday, August 6, 2004

5:30 a.m. local time

Athens, Greece

"No way. No way on God's green Earth - could it be?" Kimberly muttered. She felt like she was daydreaming ... but this was no dream.

This was as real as real could be - the kind of thing that only happens in fairy tales.

"Yes, it is, **Beautiful**," came the oh-so-familiar voice.

Kim turned around and nearly freaked right there in bed. There, right there, was her one and only ... but with a little bit of a, uh, different look.

"Who the hell are you and what have you done to my Tommy?" Kim hissed.

"Uh, I have a job, you know, a formal job," Tommy said.

"Thomas James Oliver, looking professional with that spiked hair?" Kim said. "My my my, how times have changed. It wasn't even ten years ago that you were still sporting that ponytail."

"Being a doctor of paleontology tends to do that to you, ya know?" Tommy said. "Listen, I didn't come here just for the hell of it. There's a REALLY serious situation back home that sped up this reunion."

"What is the something serious that could possibly happen?" Kim said. "That serial killer is dead, my parents are gone, Trini's gone, you guys are back..."

"It's your cousin Kelly," Tommy said, fully aware that he could say anything he wanted about the Rangers since Shawna was Kim's roomate and already knew their secrets. "Zedd, his son Thrax, and my enemy Mesogog got her and turned her into a monster."

"What? Where is she? Is she all right?"

"We got her free - one of my students back home got her free - so she's not under Zedd's grip anymore but I fear there will be psychological drawbacks."

"And how come YOU weren't there, Mr. Ranger of Four Colors?" Kim quipped. "And what is up with you stealing another color anyways? What's it gonna be next? Blue, Yellow, or even heaven forbid for you, PINK?"

"Hey, I don't get to pick!" Tommy said. "The color and the Dino Gem chose me. As far as why I wasn't there - it's because I taught those kids and they are ready to fly on their own. I trust them just as much as our team when the chips are down. If they hadn't been worthy then the Power of Ninja wouldn't have chosen them."

"Power of Ninja?" Kim said. "You don't mean..."

"Yep. HE's back," Tommy said, "although my team hasn't needed him much yet."

Thursday, August 5, 2004

7:30 p.m. PDT

Reefside, CA

"Well, well, well," Billy thought. He was with Zordon, and though they weren't watching it, they could both feel the powers of the Falcon and Crane coming back together as one. For both, it was a sight to behold.

"I guess Tommy must have sped things up," Zordon said.

"Yeah, well Zedd kidnapping Kim's cousin will do that, and I'm almost willing to bet that's what Tommy's there for," Billy said. "I better call Kim - Adam gave me her number."

Friday, August 6, 2004

5:35 a.m. local time

Athens, Greece

Suddenly, Kim heard the faintest sound - of her phone ringing.

"Whatcha wanna bet that's Zordon?" Tommy said. That surmise got Kim's full attention and she rushed to her phone, trying not to wake Shawna in the process. Kim grinned when she saw it was indeed a California area code, and thus she activated her phone.

"Uh, hello?" Kim said.

**"Greetings and salutations from Reefside, California, Kimberly."**

"Billy!" Kim said. "It's been way, way too long. What's up with you?"

**"Well, we're at Dr. Oliver's residence just outside the city and the commotion from our latest victory hasn't died down yet. I'm sure Tommy's told you about what happened to Kelly?"**

"He told me that Zedd got her and turned her into a monster," Kim said. "Where is she, Billy? I just have to know."

**"She's safe and sound with us here at Dr. Oliver's residence,"** Billy said. **"Tanya and I are here as well as Zordon and some of the others that you know so she's safe here. Kim, I hate to break the news but we had to tell her about us."**

"I understand, Billy," Kim said. "From the way it sounds there really wasn't a choice in the matter."

**"No, there really wasn't," **Billy said. **"She was going to find out one way or another and so we just got it out of the way. She's safe with us. I want to take care of one last thing and then I'll let you speak to Zordon."**

"So he IS alive," Kim said.

**"Affirmative, Kim,"** Billy said. **"I'm sending you a device that Zordon installed in the others' cellphones so that if another battle comes you can watch it on your phone."**

A few seconds later, a flash of light appeared in Kim's room, followed by a small little chip that simply lay on her dresser.

**"Tommy can help you install it, he's already got it on his phone and surely if he can't then Justin can,"** Billy said. **"How do you like Tommy's new looks?"**

"I was FREAKED the first time I saw him - almost like what in the name of good has happened to MY Tommy?" Kim said. "But I'll get used to it after awhile. May I speak to Zordon?"

**"He's right here," **Billy said. **"Good night from here, Kim and also good morning where you are."**

A few moments later, Kim saw one of her dreams realized - to actually speak with Zordon once again.

**"Hello, my Crane**,**"** Zordon said.

"Oh, my, gosh! It really is, I can't believe it!" Kim said.

**"Yes, my dear,"** Zordon said. **"How are you feeling?"**

"I am well, all things considered," Kim said. "You better be taking good care of my cousin over there."

**"We are," **Zordon said. **"She's in bed now. She's had it rough over the past few days**.**"**

"Zordon, I have to ask ... how ugly is this Mesogog freak?" Kim said.

**"I'm teleporting a mugshot of him now. Be prepared, and don't throw up,"** Zordon said. A few moments later, Kim found a picture in her hands of Mesogog himself.

"Ewwwwww, gross!"Kim said.

**"Tommy's Red Ranger Conner calls him 'the reject from Jurassic Park.' Whatever that is,"** Zordon said.

"I wish there was a way one of us could teach Kelly to defend herself," Kim said. "You know that Meso-ugly's going to be coming after her now, and Zedd too. Can she fight?"

**"She says that she can,"** Zordon said. **"I have yet to see whether she can or not but I hope so. I should probably let you go - you and Tommy have a day to spend together."**

"One other question," Kim said. "Did the rest of Tommy's team make it out of that desert alive?"

**"They did, but not without paying a huge price," **Zordon said. **"We are pumping food and water to them because they need it more than anything else. That and rest. They looked battered and beaten when they came back."**

Kim nodded in agreement. When the Rangers had got back from the Island of Illusion and overcoming the spells that had been on that island, they had been gassed at the strain which had been put on their minds from that adventure. And if this Desert of Destruction was any indication...

"It was great talking to you Zordon," Kim said. "Tell Mystic Mother I said hi."

**"I will do that, my young Crane," **Zordon said. **"May the Power protect you."**

2 hours later...

"Wait, where's Kim?" one of the young gymnasts asked.

"What have you done with Kim?" one of the veterans demanded of Shawna.

"QUIET!" Shawna bellowed, so that it got everyone's attention. Once she knew she had their attention, she spoke again.

"I did not kidnap them, much as you would like to believe that," Shawna said. "She is merely with the young man she has loved all of her life, and will be for the rest of the day."

"You mean..."

"Yes, Tommy Boy's here," Shawna said, "and if I have my way, NONE, and I do mean, NONE of you will come between those two. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the group all said in unison.

"Good. Carry on," Shawna said.

Meanwhile...

"How in the world did you guys get THIS rental car?" Kim said.

"I dunno, that's just the car we were offered," Tommy said. "We couldn't believe it."

"This is a SLEEK one," Kim said. "I can tell you're still high off what happened yesterday back in California."

"You read my mind too well, Kim," Tommy said. "I can't even TELL you how big that is. I was afraid my team were goners. Zedd had them trapped in a hot, endless desert for two days straight, and the lone remaining Ranger has to battle an entire army. I'm gonna shoot you straight and tell you it did not look good. It hurt for me because I TRAINED those kids. Thank God they survived."

"Get outta here!" Kim said. "You're sounding like Zordon now!"

"Well, I didn't tell them, 'may the Power protect you,'" Tommy said. "That good enough for ya?"

Kim nodded and said, "So what else has been going on in the group, aside from Zordon being back, Aisha and Justin being an item, and you having a new team in some coastal town I've never heard of?"

"Well, Adam and Tanya actually have a baby boy."

"Oooooh, what's he called?" Kim said.

"Matthew. He's really, really adorable," Tommy said. "He's got his mother's spunk but his father's smarts. I can't wait to watch Matthew Park play Major League Baseball for the L.A. Dodgers in 20 years. It's gonna be sweet."

"What about Jason?"

"Engaged to Kat," Tommy said as he caught Kim directing him on where to turn at an intersection. "They're getting married in February of 2005."

"I'm happy for Jason," Kim said. "He deserves a woman like Kat. Just how long have they been together?"

"2001, I think," Tommy said. "I think they met while Jason was in Europe sometime in the later months of 2000. Let me tell ya they hit it off FAST."

"Is it true that Billy's got a new girlfriend?" Kim said.

"Yeah, Hayley's her name. Old friend of mine from college," Tommy said. "She's now the Purple Ninja Ranger. I think she's the first Canadian we've ever had be an Earth Power Ranger."

"Oh, that's right, she's the girl from Calgary," Kim said as she pulled up to a favorite breakfast hangout of hers.

"Here, let me see if I can install that device into your phone," Tommy said. "It should only take a second."

A few moments later, Tommy had it finished.

"There," Tommy said. "Now you can watch battles from wherever you are, just like the rest of us."

20 minutes later...

"Plaigarizer," Kim said, slapping Tommy. "Now you're claiming you love the things I like. Strawberry pancakes...haw, haw, haw. Now there's a laugh."

"Hey, if you don't believe me, ask Hayley," Tommy said. "I'm obsessed with those things - so good."

"So, how did you get into this dinosaur stuff anyways?" Kim said.

"Started in college at USC - I got really interested through some classes I HAD to have and I'd tell my friends about it, and one day I just decided I would pursue a degree in something like that," Tommy said. "I got my big break at MIT when I met Hayley, and later, Anton Mercer. Sadly, Mercer became Mesogog, and we had to fight him. He's not Mesogog now, but..."

"That had to be so hard," Kim said, "seeing him like that."

"It was almost as bad as it would have been if Zordon had been turned against me," Tommy said, "and I don't think I could have handled that."

"So who's all back in the game?" Kim said, "besides Mesogog and radiator face?"

"Uh, Zedd's son, Thrax," Tommy said. "Ugly beast, I tell you."

"Zedd...has a son?"

"Yeah, Zedd has a son," Tommy said. "Frightening, isn't it? Anyways, Goldar and Scorpina are back, and so is the newest cyborg that hates my guts...Zeltrax."

"Ugh, monkey breath and Scorpina," Kim said. "Not good. So what's this I see about Aisha and Justin becoming an item?"

"Yeah, that's a recent trend," Tommy said. "Aisha kind of started that, as you've probably heard. I actually think it's good for him - Justin doesn't need someone his age bringing him down. Aisha said you'd warm up to this as soon as you remember who Veronica was."

"Oh, shit," Kim said. "Veronica - that brat's still around?"

"Yeah, and Aisha's got to work with her every day of the week," Tommy said. "Aisha can't even begin to count how many times Veronica bragged about you wising up and breaking up with me."

"Does she never learn?" Kim said.

"I don't think she ever has learned," Tommy said. "Do you know partly why Adam and Tanya got together?"

"Why?"

"Because Veronica thought Tanya was a loser too after she started dating Tanya's FIRST boyfriend, a guy who wasn't too nice in his own right."

Kim's eyes simply blazed with fury at that statement. Tommy moved back in fright - he'd never seen Kim do something like that before.

"Veronica better HOPE she doesn't see me again," Kim said, "or I'll give her about five pieces of my mind."

Little did they know that even though they were back together and having a good time, they were in even more danger than they ever were before.

Mesogog's Island Fortress

"Curse that Dr. Oliver!" Scorpina screamed as she watched Kimberly and Tommy on Rita's old telescope - as they sickeningly kissed for what seemed like the umpteenth time. "I can't believe it!"

"What's wrong, Scorpina?" Zedd said, as he entered the room obviously with the look of someone who was just getting ready for bed.

"Take a look, my Lord!" Scorpina snapped. "Take a look at how happy they look, that brat Kimberly and his White Knight! Doesn't it just make you want to puke?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Zedd roared as he saw the happy pictures of the Original Power Couple coming back together. "THOSE TWO REALLY GET MY GEARS GOING!"

"We've got to do SOMETHING! ANYTHING from getting them together again!" Thrax said. "But how? We can't go after them with those Dino Thunder dweebs around."

"I say we kidnap one of those Dino Thunder dweebs," Goldar said as he came in from behind.

"I agree, but I say we go for someone less obvious," Scorpina said. "Hayley knows more about the technical workings of the Rangers than anyone there. We'll have a direct link inside Tommy's quarters if we get Hayley on our side. We can intrude on them or even destroy Tommy's base outright."

"YES! YES, Scorpina!" Zedd shouted with glee. "We need someone to OUTSMART them! Why didn't we think of that before?"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Goldar said.

"No, Goldar," Zedd said. "We let them get fat on their accomplishments, and then we hit them when they least expect it!"

"Wait, wait!" Zeltrax said. "What about training her to actually FIGHT? She can't be expected to live on her technical wizardry, you know!"

"We can all train her, we WILL all train her," Zedd said. "With her vast technical knowledge and the training she will receive from us, she will be unstoppable!"

"You know what it will also do?" Scorpina said. "It will give us more depth within our ranks. If we can lure her to our side, we'll have four major battle generals instead of three - Goldar, myself, Zeltrax and Hayley. We can launch two or even three attacks at once - we can attack the Dino Thunder Rangers as well as the older Rangers, capture them and bring them here!"

"It's PERFECT!" Zedd shouted. "But we must not let them think we're up to anything."

The Rangers may have escaped the Desert of Destruction, and Trent may have won his greatest victory. Tommy and Kim were even back together - a huge victory in its own right for the entire Power Ranger family. But the Rangers' toughest work was indeed yet to come.

TBC...


	17. 17: The Reunion Part 2, Losing Hayley

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: I also don't own the Calgary Flames, L.A. Kings, Stanley Cup or anything related to the National Hockey League. I should also mention I don't own anything Major League Baseball related. I also don't own Dance Master, Falcon4Crane does.

Chapter 17 - The Reunion Part 2, Losing Hayley

Friday, August 6

12:30 p.m. local time

Athens, Greece

They drove to a particularly gorgeous edge of one of Europe's most famed cities - and towards the beach in particular. They each carried three bags of shopping items - which had taken a huge chunk out of each of their wallets, but they didn't care.

And both of them were having a blast.

"I didn't know you were that much into shopping!" Kim said. "My, my, my, my handsome Falcon really has changed. Who turned you on to it?"

"Tanya," Tommy said. "During the brief time Kat and I dated, Tanya volunteered to help me pick out a gift for her birthday. While we were doing that, she showed me the intricacies of how to shop. I don't know how - but I'm a guy that just got hooked on it."

"So there's ANOTHER one that can shop as well as I do?" Kim said.

"Yeah. Tanya's right up there with you and I don't joke," Tommy said.

"Oh," Kim said, as she held some photos in her hand. "Well, we'll have to see about that, won't we?"

"Have you thought about if you want to continue with gymnastics after the Games?" Tommy said.

"This is my swan song," Kim said.

"Oh?" Tommy said.

"Yep," Kim said. "Pretty soon you'll be seeing me with Tanya and that Yellow Ranger...oh, whatever her name is."

"Kira. Kira Ford," Tommy said. "You'd immediately be the best music band period if you went that route. Three great talents, with a good supporting cast, and you'll rake in millions in the music industry."

As they pulled onto the beach, they each grinned as they showered themselves with sunscreen, and grabbed some towels.

"Last one to the water gets to clean Zords!" Kim shouted.

"Uh, Kim there AREN'T any Zords here," Tommy said. "Oh, all right. I'm coming."

20 minutes later, they were floating in the water, Tommy holding onto Kim as if he never wanted to let her go ... and come to think of it, he really didn't.

Tommy smiled when he looked back towards the shore and realized where they were...right next to the hotel where most of the Rangers were staying.

"What are you smiling about, mister?" Kim said.

"The guys...well, some of them, probably, happen to be in that hotel. That's where we're staying for the Games," Tommy said.

"I don't know how you guys got this hotel but this is an awesome area," Kim said. "I wish I could come over sometime..."

"The door's always open," Tommy said. "But I realize how much work gymnastics takes and I know you're supposed to be with your team so I won't be hurt."

"Can I ask you something?" Kim said. "This is...kind of a serious question."

When Tommy nodded his assent, Kim said, "What are you going to do if the guys somehow get attacked here? You gotta know that Meso-ugly and Thrax are planning something."

"What are you saying, Kim?" Tommy said.

"I'm saying I have a feeling something really bad is going to happen. As in a full-scale attack here while the Games are going on," Kim said. "How are you going to defend yourself? You can't possibly expect the Dino Thunder team to handle that big of a load can you?"

"We just have to trust Zordon," Tommy said. "He's assured us that everything is all right."

Monday, August 9, 2004

11:30 a.m. PDT

Reefside, CA

By Monday, things had settled down quite a bit in Reefside. It was almost TOO quiet.

No attacks. No Tyrannodrones. No Putties. No Goldar and Scorpina.

Not a peep from Mesogog's Island Fortress.

Billy had made sure to notify every Ranger to be on his or her toes. He had shared his worry with Kimberly that something bad was going to happen. He could FEEL it going through his body. The bad guys were up to something, and no one knew what it was. Billy only knew that it was probably going to be bad.

He was concerned about one other thing. He had meant to speak to Deanna, but had not been able to track her down in recent days since he'd returned from the desert. He could see that Deanna was really, really uncomfortable where she was - almost like she was hiding something that she didn't want to say. He knew that Deanna - despite the fact that she had indeed been terrible when she'd launched her attack on Aquitar all those years ago as Divatox - was good at heart, and would not attempt to harm the current team in any way. He had also noticed that Zordon had given her some rather cold stares in the time since she'd gotten here, which was uncharacteristic for Zordon.

He had just finished some scans when he saw Mystic Mother walk into the command chamber.

"Hey," Billy said. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"I did, Billy," Mystic Mother said. "I happened to speak with Delphine this morning."

"And?" Billy said.

"They are well on their planet, but danger may be lurking," Mystic Mother said. "Finster says..."

"Wait a minute, you said that Finster is still with you?" Billy said.

"He has been with me all of my life," Mystic Mother said. "Anyways, he does have some concerns about them. He says the Hydro Hog might be back on Aquitar."

"I'm going to have to keep an eye on that one," Billy said. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Fetch me Deanna please," Billy said. "I would like to speak with her. I am concerned that she's going to go insane unless I speak with her. I know she's good at heart but she needs to speak with someone."

"Sure thing."

20 minutes later, Deanna walked into Tommy's lair - and Billy took one look at her and could read her expression like a book. She had the look that said, _'_**Here it comes - here comes my evisceration from this group.'**

"Hey, relax," Billy said. "I'm not here to boot you out - and I doubt Zordon would either once he hears the actual truth."

"I'm...I'm not sure," Deanna said. "I'm so embarrassed by what I did to the first Turbo team. They should still be wearing those uniforms right now."

"Just tell me," Billy said. "Katherine can attest that I didn't hurt her when she told the truth about her being under Rita's control. The truth will set you free."

"The truth...the truth..." Deanna said. "You know about my sister Dimitria I assume?"

When Billy nodded, Deanna said, "The truth is...I had no choice...but Mama D and I had her eviscerate the elder Rangers...none of you know it but she was under Mama D's control just as I was...she was under much less of a hold but she was in Mama D's power nontheless..."

Billy could simply see the hurt of all those years coming out, and could see the pure goodness in her soul.

"She would have let the elder Rangers stay...she has told me many times, but she had no choice...I wish she didn't have to do that...Justin was unbelievably vulnerable when the elder Rangers left..."

"What was Mama D's idea?" Billy said.

"Simple. Get the elder Rangers out of there, and get young, inexperienced Rangers in a position where Dimitria and I could leave them defenseless..." Deanna said, still crying. "And the really sad part of it all? IT WORKED...I ruined Justin's life..."

"So that's why you don't feel comfortable? Because you thought Zordon could kick you to the curb any second now?"

"Actually, Billy, yes," Zordon said as he emerged from the shadows - he'd actually seen the whole thing. "I could have easily kicked her to the curb and probably would have done so in the future had I not heard that."

"Zordon...really, can I stay?" Deanna said, still sobbing uncontrollably.

"Yes," Zordon said. "I can't possibly kick you out now that I know the truth. I also need you to know that I'm sorry for being ignorant."

"Ignorant of what?" Deanna said as she wiped her tears.

"Ignorant in my accusations about your sister and how she disappointed me by kicking my Rangers out. It is not her fault either. It is Mama D's fault, and hers alone. I should have known you were better than that when I saw how much of a class act Delisha is. TJ is extremely lucky to have her."

"The good news is that Mama D's dead, and both you and your sister are safe and sound," Billy said. "Zordon, what was Dimitria like before Mama D turned her?"

"I'm not specific on a date when she got turned, I wouldn't know. What I do know is while she worked for the side of light, she was as pure and good as myself. For a very long time, I considered her my very best friend. I do know this - Dimitria was never the type to ask everything in questions although there are some on her planet who do that," Zordon said.

"You know what?" Billy said. "We can always use another hand on deck, to keep an eye on everything. I have a really bad feeling something terrible's going to happen."

"Deanna would you like to have your sister here? I think you would be a lot more comfortable if you had your older sister here," Zordon said.

"I would if she'll come but I don't want to force her," Deanna said. "I'm certainly not the one to be making threats in our family."

"Quite true," Zordon said.

"Oh, look, there's Dulcea," Deanna said. "Something must be up."

"Oh, not really," Dulcea said. "Just that Trent and I decided to go our separate ways."

"You're not hurt by this are you?" Zordon said.

"Not at all," Dulcea said. "We're still close friends, no doubt. But we decided that's all we can be, and I don't think either of us have a problem with that."

2 hours later...

Hayley walked out of Cyberspace, and headed to her typical lunch break feeling awfully good about herself.

The few days she'd spent in bed since her escapade in the desert had done her wonders, and on this Monday, she'd been her usual upbeat self - actually, if you'd asked any of the consumers who had come through her doors so far that day, one could say she was happier than usual.

"Ah, some lunchtime pizza," Hayley said to herself, "then back to work and maybe, just maybe I can see Billy tonight."

It was at that precise moment that she was knocked cold to the sidewalk by some sort of stun gun, and slipped out of consciousness. And it was at that very moment that Goldar and several dozen Tyrannodrones stepped out of hiding, snatched the fallen Hayley, and tied her in knots.

"We have what we need!" Goldar roared. "Let's go!"

Mesogog's Island Fortress...

"This machine had better work, Mesogog," Zedd growled. "Lord knows my past plans to turn people evil have backfired on me!"

"Worry not, Lord Zedd," Mesogog said as he and his servant Zeltrax pulled a gigantic machine into his lab with Hayley strapped to it. "This is one I have been saving for some time...was saving to use on Dr. Oliver. It's called the Dream Weaver. It goes into one's mind...takes beautiful memories and dreams and manipulates them into feelings like loneliness, jealousy, hatred and want for revenge. Then, I use my powers to turn this person to our side. It also gives us a better chance to keep that person on our side in the long run, especially with Hayley. Just watch and see. Hit it, Zeltrax."

With that, Zeltrax turned the machine on, and Zedd liked what he saw as Mesogog explained the process. Lord Zedd seemed to understand as the two viewed a scene of Hayley helping Tommy in school, teaching him a lot of what he knew.

"Now what this will do is this will create a feeling in Hayley, once I zap her with my powers," Mesogog said, "of knowing she is better than Tommy and was all along. And more so, that she wants to prove it through combat."

"Most devious, Mesogog," Zedd said. "This one just might work."

After 20 minutes of watching various scenes that Mesogog himself had picked, he rose from his seat.

"Hayley Johnson, Calgary's very own, you are MINE," Mesogog said as he fired a beam of energy that, once it struck Hayley, caused the whole light system to go off in his island fortress.

When the lights came back on, Hayley was fully awake.

But it was a totally different Hayley.

She not only wore an evil grin that would have frightened anyone, but she walked with a sureness and confidence about her that would have made anyone cringe.

"How may I serve you, Mesogog? What may I do to help you, Lord Zedd?" Hayley said, in a deep, low voice, her eyes flashing a dark shade of purple.

"Welcome to the darkness, Hayley," Lord Zedd said.

TBC...


	18. 18: Tommy's Dilemma

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: I also don't own the Calgary Flames, L.A. Kings, Stanley Cup or anything related to the National Hockey League. I should also mention I don't own anything Major League Baseball related. I also don't own Dance Master, Falcon4Crane does.

Chapter 18 - Tommy's Dilemma

Monday, August 9, 2004

7:00 p.m. PDT

1492 Valencia Drive

Reefside, CA

"Hayley!" Billy said as he threw his arms around his new girlfriend as she walked in for dinner. "We were worried about you! You left to get some lunch and didn't come back!"

"Yeah, I got detained by some Tyrannodrones for a few hours. Don't know why they decided to show up but I guess it was just to have some fun," Hayley said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, I'm just glad you're safe and sound," Billy said. "And you're lucky."

"Why?"

"I contacted that good Alberta Beef company you like so much. I'm having it delivered to your house."

"Oh yes!" Hayley said as she clapped her hands. "Good ole Alberta beef - now that's the ticket! When will it arrive?"

"Should be here in about a day," Billy said. "I knew you'd like some good ole Alberta beef."

And speaking of Alberta," Hayley said, "I've got the perfect place for Tommy and Kim's honeymoon when they do finally tie the knot and we do finally win."

"Well, hold that till later," Billy said. "We're a long way from winning this war. Besides, after dinner, I want you to come meet the newest arrival to help us."

30 minutes later...

A nice dinner of chicken marsala was done, and now Billy was leading Hayley into Tommy's basement.

"Ah, there we are," Billy said as he led Hayley towards the new arrival. "Hayley, this is Dimitria of Inquiris. Dimitria, this is my friend, Hayley Johnson."

"A pleasure to meet you, Hayley," Dimitria said in a soft, serene voice as she extended her hand. "I have heard of your doings with one of the men I was mentors with. It is an honor to meet you."

"And the same to you," Hayley said as she shook Dimitria's hand, but not with force like usual. "I'm sure we'll get to know one another as time progresses."

Now, Billy had been watching the whole thing from a distance, and his eyebrows raised at two things from the brief conversation that was going on between the two women.

First off, was that Hayley's handshake wasn't as firm as it normally was.

Second of all was the fact that Hayley was now speaking a little more cryptically this evening, almost like she was being careful about everything she said. Billy had first noticed it at dinner, and it was carrying over into this conversation. Hayley was very technical but wasn't the type to talk in a technical language like Billy was.

Billy wasn't the type to get suspicious, but Hayley's sudden change in behavior from the previous day made him jump a little bit. He wasn't stupid - he knew Hayley and she knew him.

"I'm a bit concerned," Billy said. "But I'm sure it's nothing. Everyone has bad days. We'll see what happens tomorrow."

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

8 a.m. local time

Athens, Greece

"So, are you sure this is what she really wants to do?" Aisha said as the former Rangers gathered in a media news conference called by Kimberly herself to announce her retirement from gymnastics effective as soon as the Games were history. "You've talked with her for several days about this now."

"She wants to do this, Aisha," Tommy said firmly. "She has expressed a desire to be with me, and now that she's been given a second chance I don't think there's any way she's going to give that up."

"Trini would be proud," Kat mused.

"Yes she would be," Jason said to his girlfriend, when all of a sudden he heard a noise. "Tommy is that your phone going off?"

"Holy shit that is my phone!" Tommy said. "Hold on just a sec."

He hustled outside the facility, grabbed his phone just before it went to voicemail and said, "Tommy here."

**"Tommy, this is Billy. Do you have a few minutes?"**

"It's kind of hairy right now Billy. Kim's press conference where she's announcing her retirement after the Games is going on right now. Can it wait, possibly?"

**"I don't know if it can, Tommy. We've got a major problem. It's Hayley."**

Tommy snapped to full attention at that last piece of information. If anyone was trying to mess with Hayley he was going to break the perpetrator's neck - there was no doubt about it.

"Billy, man, what's wrong?" Tommy said.

**"She's acting really weird,"** Billy said. **"Sunday night and early Monday she was her usual upbeat self. Now she's cryptic, protective and a lot more personal - and she seems to have a little bit more of an edge to her. And now she's asked for a vacation for two weeks from Cyberspace and she never does that to my knowledge."**

With that bit of information, alarm bells started going off in Tommy's head.

"Nah...they wouldn't..." Tommy said, "would they?"

**"They've never done it before,"** Billy said, **"but then again they've never been as smart as they are now."**

"You let me know when Hayley gets over there tomorrow and when she does, you call me immediately. That way I can come home and watch her every move," Tommy said.

**"Tommy you can't possibly be thinking about leaving Kim behind over there!"** Billy nearly shouted. **"She needs you!"**

"Billy, that is my HOUSE you're in right now, you forget," Tommy snapped. "If Hayley is under someone else's power it concerns me and you know why? It's not just because she's my friend, which concerns me enough - it's because NO ONE, not even you or Justin, knows the technology that I put together quite like Hayley. Do you even realize what she could do to my Command Center?"

Billy didn't answer, but Tommy knew by the silence that was on the other end that Billy didn't have an answer.

"Bottom line, I'm teleporting back home, at the very least, to see what's going on and if Hayley is under evil's influence I'll be back home for good," Tommy said. "By the way, why are you calling me this late over there? It's like 9:30, 10:00 over there!"

**"Because Mystic Mother says that's when all the villains like Zedd go to sleep - is about 9 p.m. our time. They need their sleep too, Tommy,"** Billy said.

"OK then," Tommy said, "I have to get back inside. I'll talk to you later."

**"Bye Tommy. I'll keep you posted."**

With that, the line clicked dead, and Tommy silently snuck back into the building as the press conference was getting going, and started making hand signals to his fellow Rangers, which said in effect,

"Team meeting, following the conference. Make sure Kim shows up."

The others nodded as the press conference continued.

30 minutes later...

"Are we all here?" Jason said.

"I think so," Kim said, and then she turned to her new - but with an old familiarity - boyfriend, and said, "Tommy what's wrong?"

"Six words guys," Tommy said. "Once a Ranger, always a Ranger. Even if it means not putting on the spandex."

"Tommy, you can't be serious!" Kim yelled. "We just got back together again!"

"I know, Beautiful," Tommy said. "But would you rather have a world to come back to or not?"

"What? What's going on?" Kim said.

"It's Hayley - my friend Hayley from college," Tommy said. "Billy thinks she's acting weird and could be under someone's power."

"So?" Rocky said. "At least she's not you."

"Rocky, this is not the time or the place for that!" Aisha growled as she grabbed Rocky by his shirt collar.

"Thank you, Aisha," Tommy said. "And, actually, it could end up being worse that me when I was evil, Rocky. The only person who knows as much about the technology in my Command Center is Hayley. She could destroy it entirely or throw us so out of whack that we'll be vulnerable."

"Tommy, you don't mean to..." Jason said.

"Yeah I do, bro. By the way, that's my HOUSE that's right above my Command Center. That is my property and I'm not going to allow Zedd to destroy it. He very nearly destroyed Kimberly when he tried to make her his bride and I heard all about that. I'm not going to let him ruin either one of us again."

Tommy's eyes flashed with a fire that almost scared his teammates half to death.

"Rocky, Adam, Aisha, Kat, Justin," Kim said, "THAT's how he was when he was the Evil Green Ranger. He was SCARY then. He nearly blew up the Command Center all by himself when he was under Rita's power and I think he knows what Zedd might do with Hayley if she is under his power. I got the nerve to go talk to him face to face when he was under Rita's power - I was so scared he was going to rip my head off and he very easily could have done it."

Tommy nodded his assent.

"It's sad, but what she's saying is true," Tommy said. "And if Rita - well, Mystic Mother now, but Rita then - had instructed me to rip her head off right there in the Youth Center, I probably would have done it."

The others looked at each other, nodding their heads. No way did they like it, but it didn't look like Tommy would be here for much longer if indeed what Billy was suspecting was true.

"And one more thing," Tommy said. "Do you know why I sped up the reunion with Kim? Why I went to go talk to her so soon and finally got the courage to talk to her again?"

"Because her cousin Kelly was under Zedd's power," Jason said.

"That's exactly right, Bro," Tommy said. "And that's the reason I got the nerve to try to go talk to her again even though I may not have been ready - because even though I got that letter, she was protecting me for one thing and the other thing was, I hurt Kim, BAD, as the Evil Green Ranger. So if anything, we're even. And I'll be DAMNED if someone else who is close to me is controlled by Zedd or Mesogog. I just can't let it happen."

"Once a Ranger, always a Ranger, eh?" Kat said.

"Exactly. It just never ends," Tommy said.

"I can't argue with it, bro," Jason said. "If indeed it is true, go give em one for us. Kim will be safe over here - but you need to save the world again."

Thursday, August 12, 2004

10:00 a.m. local time

Hayley's residence

Reefside, CA

Hayley was flipping through some papers and finishing some tidy-work in her office, perfectly comfortable, when suddenly a little device went off in her pocket.

She reached for this device, and pressed a small button on the bottom of it.

"My Lord?" she said in a voice that was much deeper, and more menacing than the upbeat, sparky Canadian voice the Rangers were used to.

"I'm bored, Hayley," Lord Zedd said. "Do you think we should send some Putties just to keep the Rangers busy?"

"I think they've had a long enough break. Might want to send Goldar just to make them think about it a little bit. You know I have to act as if I'm on their side for now, right?"

"Understood. We don't want any of the Rangers knowing what we're up to. OK, I'll send about 50 Putties and Goldar just to keep them busy. Don't worry too much. We'll decide later when it's time to really strike their base."

"OK. Training like usual tonight?"

"Yes. Same time."

"Very well, my lord."

"You are doing a good job so far. Lord Zedd out."

She then awaited her communicator going off, as she headed out of her office and casually flipped on the radio in her living room. Unbeknownst to her and Zedd, no one had seen Tommy teleport in with the power of invisibility - Tommy had heard the whole conversation. Billy had given him the notion that his power of invisibility could grant him the power to watch Hayley anytime he wanted, so Tommy had changed his plans.

"I can't believe it," Tommy groaned. "She really is under Zedd's power."

10 minutes later, after Hayley had put on her best disguise for the Rangers and the team was safely in the park fighting the Putties and Goldar, Zordon and Tommy stood huddled in Tommy's basement, in hushed tones.

"So you said that Hayley has a device, and pretty much told Zedd to send Goldar and the Putties to the park?" Zordon said.

"Yeah, to give you the Cliff's Notes version, she was in direct contact with Lord Zedd," Tommy said. "I think it's official ... she is not on our side, at least she's not right now. Kiss my stay in Greece goodbye, it seems. Was fun while it lasted."

"Actually you could teleport between here and there with frequency," Zordon said.

"But you said we could never use those powers for personal gain," Tommy said.

"I never said that rule would last forever, Tommy. I knew there would come a time when you would have to teleport for personal reasons - it's just not possible to have a 14 hour cross country flight with everything that's at stake. Neither you nor the rest of the Rangers, young or old, are safe anywhere with four warriors on their side now," Zordon said. "And, there is one other thing I could do."

"What is that?" Tommy said.

"Just teleport back to Greece and let me call you later tonight. I think I might have a second solution to the problem. Wait, before you go back, you need to see Dimitria."

Zordon beckoned to a side of the base, and out of the shadows, indeed walked Dimitria.

"Tommy, I'm so sorry," Dimitria said as she hugged Tommy tightly.

"For what? To my knowledge you didn't do anything wrong."

"Didn't do anything wrong? If by that you mean I kicked you guys out as the Turbo team when Mama D forced me to do so, then yeah I did something wrong."

"Aha," Tommy said. "So that's why you had somewhat of a grouchy attitude back in the day. You were being controlled."

"Yeah, sad as it is to say," Dimitria said. "I want you to know that the Dimitria you see now is not the Dimitria of yesteryear. The Dimitria of yesteryear would have done anything to destroy you, Kat, Tanya, Adam or Justin. Sad but I ruined his life."

"Hey, it's not your fault," Tommy said. "I was the Evil Green Ranger and very nearly destroyed my friends under Rita. It's OK, I don't fault you for it. Hey, I could stay and catch up but I gotta go before they come back."

They finished the conversation and Tommy teleported out just in time because the Rangers indeed had just come back from sending the Putties and Goldar back to the moon.

9:00 local time

Athens, Greece

"So, what is the verdict?" Jason said as the team gathered in their hotel.

"Well, I have good news and bad news," Tommy said.

"Give us the bad news first then the good news," Aisha said.

"The bad news is that Hayley is indeed against us," Tommy said as he very nearly broke down.

Shawna happened to be with them at the moment, so she went over to Tommy and embraced him tightly - Tommy had told Shawna several times about what Hayley had meant to him.

"The good news?" Jason said.

"Is there good news?" Rocky said. "Someone getting turned evil is never good."

"Yeah, there is actually some good news," Tommy said. "I might be able to stay after all."

"Yeah? How?" Kat said.

"With this," Tommy said, pulling out a small device with a screen on the top of it - almost designed like a Blackberry, with the letter Z on the bottom.

"What good is that?" Aisha said.

"Zordon and I noticed that Hayley was using a device similar to this to contact Lord Zedd and Mesogog, so Zordon was able to pilfer this device for a few minutes, he based the technology off of that, and basically designed a carbon copy for me which I can use. It pretty much allows us to see what Lord Zedd is up to. Zordon will tell me if Hayley knows that we did this but I don't think she knows."

"Neat!" Adam said.

"Hey, don't get too comfortable guys. I may still have to go back over there at times when they do try to get into my base because chances are that's exactly what they're going to do. But for now, I can stay," Tommy said.

"And for all of us, that is GREAT news," Zack said. "Now, let's get ready for the opening ceremonies tomorrow!"

TBC...


	19. 19: Parades and Fears

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: I also don't own the Calgary Flames, L.A. Kings, Stanley Cup or anything related to the National Hockey League. I should also mention I don't own anything Major League Baseball related. I also don't own Dance Master, Falcon4Crane does.

Chapter 19 - Parades and Fears

Friday, August 13, 2004

Reefside, CA

"Man, she's up early," Zordon said as Dischordia joined her teammates in the kitchen as the whole group - Mystic Mother's army, as well as the teenagers - all gathered to watch the Summer Olympics opening ceremony on Tommy's HD television. Two people were conspicuously absent - which didn't go unnoticed by the people sitting down to watch the ceremony, although rumors were that one was on his way with his father. "Dischordia normally doesn't do mornings, you said."

"Yeah, but she wanted to be up for this," Mystic Mother said. "If she likes something well enough, she'll get up for that reason. And I don't mean for just the Olympics either."

"So you're not the only one that's noticed how she's looked at Trent?" Zordon said. "Because I have."

"I have as well," Dimitria said. "I notice Dischordia spaces off at times. What's the deal with that?"

"I think before she had a passing interest in Trent," Zordon said, "but ever since that big battle a week ago, she can't stop thinking about him. I think she's fallen."

"You guys know me too well," Dischordia said as she carried an omelette plate into the living room, where the television was already tuned to NBC. "I can't stop thinking about him. I wish he'd come back."

"You know, he has been withdrawn since his father came back," Conner said. "I guess I can kind of understand, but..."

Then, the doorbell rang.

"Better hold that thought," Conner said. Dischordia nodded, and looked as Billy let both Trent and his father, Anton Mercer, into the house.

"Welcome back, guys," Billy said.

"Thank you, Dr. Cranston," Anton said. Then, he nodded and smiled, as he walked over to Zordon. "So you're the one Tommy talks about all the time."

"I would be him," Zordon said as the two men embraced. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well."

"Thank you for taking care of Tommy until I got a hold of him," Anton said. "Quite frankly, he's simply the best there ever was."

"Are you sure dropping your son off here is the best idea?" Zordon said. "From what I've heard he's been quite close to you since you got back into town."

"Yeah but we both agreed he needs to get out of the house," Anton said, "so I'm letting him spend the day here. Well, I've got to go, I've got to get to work. It was nice meeting you. Enjoy the Olympics ceremony."

"Nice to meet you too. Oh and Anton?" Zordon said.

"Yeah?"

"Can you come back here and help with security issues in Tommy's basement later on today? We've found out that Hayley has been put under Lord Zedd's power so we're worried about a potential attack in the basement."

"Sounds pretty serious," Anton said. "OK, I'll be back later today, and I'll try and keep watch over Hayley when I can."

"See you then," Zordon said as Anton left.

Zordon continued his thoughts as the opening ceremonies neared, and was joined on the couch by Dischordia.

"As I said, I notice you've been looking at Trent since you got here," Zordon said. "You have feelings for the young man, I assume?"

"I do Zordon," Dischordia said as she continued to glance at the Parade of Nations with interest, especially when a shot of the older group of Rangers appeared on the television. When that shot came up, immediately all of the Rangers ran over and sent texts to the older group, though Zordon and Dischordia continued talking. "I mean, I understand him spending a lot of time at home with his father around but..."

"Did you think about taking him away in private while we're waiting for Kim to come out?"

"No, I have more class than that. I'm not going to force him into anything," Dischordia said. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"What about the old Command Center, or whatever the hell you guys called that place? You know, the one over by Angel Grove," Dischordia said. "Tommy always speaks fondly about that place whenever he's over at my mistress' palace. Is it possible to rebuild it with the thought that Tommy's base might be destroyed too?"

"I think with Dimitria here now, we may have the power to bring it back, but I'm going to have to ask her and Deanna," Zordon said. "But no, seriously, you asked a really good question. And we may need it. I know the majority of the group lives here in Reefside but if Hayley does what I think might happen then we might have no other choice."

All of a sudden, Trent ran up to Dischordia, whispered something in her ear, to which she nodded and then Trent came quickly back to the TV.

Some time later...

"Here it comes. The Parade of Nations," Kira said, all the while in awe while watching the television. "I've always loved this."

"Speaking of nations, I know I've made fun of Hayley for being a 'Canucklehead' and all," Tanya said, "and it sounds crazy but honestly, I'd almost rather be anybody but us. We start wars for no reason now, and we're spending billions and billions of dollars on a 'war' we shouldn't even be in! Bush makes me ashamed to be an American - we used to be a nation of peace, now we're a nation which starts wars! We never started wars as Power Rangers, it makes me SICK!"

"Affirmative," Billy said. "I know I'll stand up and cheer both Afghanistan and Iraq. I do know about most of the things that have been going on politically here even though I've been on another planet, and Bush does not make me happy. I can't wait till we're rid of him."

And the rest nodded likewise.

Afghanistan was 20th in the number of nations to be introduced, and it was some time before the group had an opportunity to get excited about something. The United States wouldn't enter until 55th, so the group had some time on their hands.

Same time, Athens, Greece

"That was very nice, the applause they gave Afghanistan," Justin said. his arm slung around Aisha's waist. "You don't boo another country. Boo an athlete who doesn't give it his all, boo a coach that stinks but for goodness sake, never boo a country!"

"So I'm sure you..." Tommy said, but before he could finish Justin cut him off.

"Yeah, I know what you're gonna say, so I'll say it myself," Justin said. "Yeah, those Montreal Canadiens fans who booed our national anthem in the hockey playoffs this past year are a bunch of morons. In Boston, we don't boo national anthems."

"I agree," Kat said. "Nothing would say ugly countryman like booing another country's national anthem. Being from Australia, but having lived in America for eight years, I've noticed a lot of Americans outside of this group who are self-centered, egotistical and quite frankly, don't give a rat's behind about anyone else."

"Kat is right," Jason said. "I travel a lot in Europe which is how I really got to know her and she is right. There are a lot of people in Europe who frown on Americans because some of us act like we're bigger than everybody else."

"The name Veronica comes to mind," Aisha said. "She is one of many who gives this country a really, really bad name. She even supports the war in Iraq - and I know that NONE of you support that war. She trashes people from other countries - Mexicans, Canadians, Latin Americans - people who are different from her but they do the same things just like you and me."

"Hey, anyone got sone sunblock left?" Jason said. "My skin is starting to burn a bit."

"I got something better," Aisha said. "I brought some aloe along with us just in case one of us was ever dumb enough to forget to apply sunscreen."

"I'm even more surprised that the guy that forgot wasn't Tommy," Justin said. "That man is more forgetful than any guy I've ever seen."

Tommy shot him a death glare as the nations continued to pass, and Aisha leaned to whisper in her boyfriend's ear. Until...

"There it goes!" Jason said. "The anthem!"

"And there she is!" Kat shouted, pointing to the right of where the Rangers were sitting.

There, in all her glory, was Kimberly Ann Hart, dressed in red, white and blue, being accompanied by Shawna and another of her teammates. As Kimberly entered the stadium, the Rangers took notice of the thunderous applause Kimberly was getting.

"Man, take a listen to that!" Zack said.

"I'm not surprised, Zack," Jason said. "Remember that on HBO, Kim revealed her identity as the Pink Ranger. There are probably a lot of people who remember watching us in the early to mid 90s when the Pink Ranger was popular. With the popularity of the old Pink Ranger, and the news that the Pink Ranger is the latest gymnastics sweetheart for the Olympics, I think we can expect her to get a whole lot of support in Athens besides us."

"Oh my God," Aisha said, which startled the Rangers considering she'd took an eye off Kimberly for a moment and had her attention focused on a young African-American woman - who strangely wasn't clapping for Kim like the majority of the stadium was - she'd seen while scanning the crowd. "Look! To your left! Do you see who I see?"

"No," Kat gasped. "That isn't..."

"Yeah it is," Aisha said. "Veronica's here. How SHE managed to get off work too, I don't know but she's here now."

"Kim said if she saw Veronica at any point that she'd be in Veronica's face," Jason said. "I hope she doesn't have to resort to that."

"We have defended the Earth from forces who try to destroy us from the outside in, like Lord Zedd," Tommy said. "But we don't often have to defend Earth from people like Veronica who destroy it from the inside out."

All of a sudden, Tommy's little device beeped. He gave an apologetic look to the rest of the gang, as well as Kim, and then headed out of the stadium and back to the parking lot. There he turned on his device - and what he saw disturbed him a bit. It pinpointed to the inside of the Command Center and he saw some unusual looking objects hidden in the technological parts of his lair that he knew weren't supposed to be there.

Reefside, CA

"I'll get that," Billy said. "Hello?"

**"Hey, Billy, it's Tommy. How are the kids enjoying the ceremonies?"**

"They love the ceremonies and we absolutely went wild when Kim came out," Billy said. "So what's wrong?"

**"There's no one down in my lair, is there?"**

"I don't think so, but let me go see," Billy said as he headed downstairs. "Nope, no one in there."

**"There's some weird looking shit in my controls and I would like you to look at it,"** Tommy said.

"OK, going through it," Billy said. "Wait a minute. That's not supposed to be there. Let me run a scan on it."

What the scan revealed horrified Billy.

"Tommy this is really serious," Billy said. "I'm guessing Hayley put those devices in - these devices can mess up the whole teleportation system, cause the Morphin' Grid to short out at inopportune times, and the worst part is..."

**"Come on Billy, give it to me straight,"** Tommy said.

"These devices double as detonators," Billy said. "When properly activated they become a regular detonator, which has enough power to destroy this entire residence."

**"Billy, you need to get those kids out of my house right now!"** Tommy said. **"We can't have them being killed! Tell them to leave and not come back until further notice!"**

"Yes sir," Billy said. "I think they're all here except Trent - strangely, he's gone. I'll get the rest of them out of here."

Meanwhile...

"Man, those guys got out of there lickety-split," Mystic Mother said, as she had long since gone back to her hiedout in her castle. "I wonder what happened over there."

All of a sudden, her palace was filled with a blinding light and began to quake. Yet, it seemed in no danger of crumbling.

"That's weird," Mystic Mother said. "Unless..."

All of a sudden a visual came up on one of her mirrors. In another part of her palace, Trent and Dischordia were sharing a long, passionate kiss and were holding each other close.

"That's where all the power seems to be coming from," Mystic Mother said. "I'm happy for them - they both seem lost without each other. Finally, Trent has found his girlfriend and two hearts have become one."

TBC...


	20. 20: Two Rangers Down

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: I also don't own the Calgary Flames, L.A. Kings, Stanley Cup or anything related to the National Hockey League. I should also mention I don't own anything Major League Baseball related. I also don't own Dance Master, Falcon4Crane does.

Chapter 20 - Two Rangers Down

Friday, August 13, 2004

Hayley's Residence

**"So the devices are safely in?"** Lord Zedd said.

"Yes they are," Hayley said as she spoke to Zedd over her device.

**"I hope you know that those Rangers will look to uninstall those devices once they find out what's going on,"** Zedd said.

"Oh, I hope they do. I hope the entire damn team does it," Hayley said."You see, Zedd, I found something before I installed those devices."

**"Oh? Do tell,"** Zedd said.

"The devices have a spell encased within them. Anyone who touches the devices automatically is placed under our power," Hayley said.

**"GLORIOUS!"** Zedd roared. **"If we're lucky..."**

"We can get some of the big boys on our side," Hayley said. "What do you want me to do?"

**"Watch them carefully," **Zedd said. **"If any of those kids fall into our power call him or her immediately. Otherwise, lay low. We can attack in a few days when we've maybe got a few more to our side but I want them off guard when we do it."**

"OK," Hayley said.

Sunday, August 15

8:00 a.m.

Athens, Greece

Tommy and Kim were laughing wildly as they rolled around in bed - it felt awfully good for them to be able to touch each other again.

Kim had introduced Tommy, over the weekend, to her U.S. teammates. Tommy had already met Shawna years ago, but didn't exactly know the rest of Kim's teammates. As they could see that he could be trusted, they allowed him to be with her for as much as possible - even allowed them to sleep together. Kim had a terrible habit of horrible nightmares most nights, so they felt that having Tommy could maybe help Kim sleep better and help her perform better.

Plus, they couldn't get over how good looking the guy was - and when you first looked at Tommy, how could you not notice how handsome the man was.

"My hair!" Kim exclaimed as Tommy began ruffling Kim's hair - just to be funny. "Any more of this and I'm going to smear your whole body with lip gloss, Thomas Oliver."

"Hey, I dare you," Tommy said, "assuming you wear the same lip gloss you wore when we were in high school."

"You know I do," Kim said. "I don't change for anybody or anything. Not my lip gloss, not nothing."

"Before you smear me," Tommy said as he continued to ruffle Kim's hair, "how do you feel going into this whole thing? Today is the qualifying thing, right?"

"Yeah, it's going to be pretty tough," Kim said, "but I've been in tougher situations before. I know what I'm getting into - it is the best of the best, after all."

"What have you got today? Vault and balance beam?"

"Yeah," Kim said.

"Uh, Tommy?" Shawna interrupted from her top bunk. "What's that noise?"

"Oh my God!" Tommy said as he spotted his device beeping. "It's that thing we're using to keep an eye on Zedd!"

Kim watched Tommy closely as Tommy's expression changed from interest, to worry, to outright horror at what he was seeing.

"Uh, Tommy?" Kim said.

"I'm sorry, girls. But I gotta go. Desperate times call for desperate measures," Tommy said. Reaching deep inside of him, he called for his power of invisibility that his black gem had afforded him. Then, he teleported out.

"Shawna," Kim said when Tommy was gone, "I'm seriously going to kill Zedd when I get my hands on him, and I'm going to get that Mesogog creep as well."

"I've never seen you this pissed," Shawna said, "about ANYTHING, in all the time we've known each other."

"Well, yeah, I kind of am pissed," Kim said, "they'll do anything to get to us. If you were a Ranger like me and you were in this situation you'd be pissed too."

Saturday, August 14

10:00 p.m. local time

Reefside, CA

Three days later, all was quiet.

Too quiet.

There hadn't been a peep from Hayley, nor had there been a peep from the rest of the Dino Thunder team - who were mostly holed up somewhere. Either they were hiding in their homes, or in Trent's case, were holed up with his girlfriend. Once Anton had talked with Zordon about what was going on with Trent, he'd ordered Trent to stay with Dischordia until further notice. He'd been informed by Tommy of the conversation between Hayley and Zedd above, and didn't want Trent out alone.

Most of those inside Tommy's residence - those in the know - were sound asleep.

Except for one person - clad in purple with a Calgary Flames Western Conference Champions hat on.

This person was carrying an immense amount of power. In spite of the fact that Hayley knew no one had come to their side, she knew she could start the process of blowing this residence up with one click of a button - on a remote which she held right now.

Hayley's heart - or what was left of it - broke for Tommy as she knew that one way or another, she'd have to be answering questions to him.

But for her, there was no other choice as she prepared to press the button that would activate the detonators within this lair's controls.

**"Hayley, FREEZE,"** came a voice that startled Hayley for a second. She could see no one, but she swore that she heard a voice. She then prepared to press the button again.

**"I said Hayley, FREEZE!"** the voice said, louder this time. **"And drop the remote while you're at it."**

Hayley couldn't have been more shocked to see Tommy appear, seemingly from out of nowhere, blocking her way to the controls.

"What the f - " Hayley muttered. She couldn't possibly believe that Tommy was here. Yet, here he was.

"What, you DIDN'T think I'd come back if my house was in danger?" Tommy said, his eyes narrowing at Hayley. No doubt, the two were friends, but Tommy was not about to let the freedom the Rangers had worked so hard to attain slip away.

Moreover, he was beyond pissed that this was taking away from his time with Kimberly. But he knew he really didn't have a choice - he knew the others in his house were sleeping, and he was the only one who could stop this.

"Tommy, please," Hayley said, "listen to me..."

"Why should I listen to you when you're under one of Lord Zedd's spells?" Tommy huffed. No doubt, he was as pissed as Hayley had ever seen him.

"No, Tommy, PLEASE," Hayley said. "What I'm about to say is FOR YOUR OWN GOOD. Please, just listen to me, like you've done with me before?"

"OK, shoot, and make it quick," Tommy said.

"Tommy, I don't know how else to put this, but..." Hayley said, "the side you are on isn't your true calling."

"Huh?"

"Oh, come on, Tommy-Boy, don't tell me you're THAT scatter-brained," Hayley said. "I work for Lord Zedd now because this is my TRUE calling. And it's where you belong too. Tommy, seriously, think about it. Earth is going to fall and soon. Wouldn't you rather be on the winning side? With me? You could even bring your princess Kimberly if you want."

"Why does it matter to you, Hayley?" Tommy snapped, as he was clearly getting irritated by Hayley's questioning. "I'm not going back to that side anyways, so I don't know why you're even asking me that question."

"Because it's going to HURT me if I have to kill you, Tommy, and that's what I'm going to have to do if you won't come to our side willingly!" Hayley all but pleaded.

"Well, I'll tell you this, Hayley," Tommy said, "I'd rather die than go to that side again. That's the reason I forgave Kim for the letter in the first place. I am NEVER hurting my friends like that again!"

Clearly, Hayley was getting exasperated. She hadn't been expecting Tommy's arrival, and now she had to fully deal with the fact that every time she threatened Tommy's home, he would indeed be here to stop her. She had to do something.

Her problems got even bigger when she all of a sudden, couldn't see Tommy again.

"Maybe he disappeared. Maybe he went back to Greece. Hopefully," Hayley said as she prepared, for a third time, to hit the button that would activate the detonators in those devices.

**"Think again,"** a deep voice said.

All of a sudden, a white laser came out of nowhere, which hit the remote Hayley was carrying and smashed to smithereens. All of a sudden, the controls in the room roared to life again, when they had been largely sputtering for the last few days.

Tommy reappeared, grinning, in his white uniform, much to Hayley's disapproval. Then, Billy, hearing the commotion, came downstairs and joined Tommy's side.

"Good job, Tommy. Looks like we're up and running again," Billy said. "We'll get her back soon enough."

"Too easy," Tommy said. When all of a sudden, two Tyrannodrones grabbed the two men. Tommy fought out of his captor's hold and teleported back to Greece, but Billy was trapped.

"Yes. As Tommy said, this is too easy. For me," Hayley said as she disappeared with her boyfriend.

Sunday, August 15, 2004

11:00 a.m.

Athens, Greece

"What? You mean, you didn't stay for Billy?" Jason huffed at Tommy as he explained what happened.

"Jason, they HAD me," Tommy said. "If I hadn't done what I'd done, then we'd be even worse. We'd be without me, Hayley AND Billy and we'd be in deep shit."

"You have to trust Tommy on this one, Jason," Kat said. "He did what was needed at the time. We can't worry about what happened. Kim's counting on us all to be there for her today."

"Yeah, today's the prelims," Rocky said. "But DAMN, I wish we didn't have to lose Billy. Now we're two Rangers down, and those are the two smartest Rangers on the team."

"There was also another reason I teleported out," Tommy said. "Dimitria came back, and apparently there are rumors about the old Command Center being rebuilt. That way if everything goes to hell in a handbasket there at least we have backup."

"Please don't tell me Dimitria's back," Justin said. "She ruined my life!"

"I'm sorry man but you're going to have to forgive her," Tommy said. "She was under Mama D's power - she never meant to do what she did. Also, I found one other thing."

"And that is?" Aisha said.

"Our Ninja powers are still with us," Tommy said. "I found I could still morph into the White Ninja. That should at least give us SOME protection from future attacks. Maybe if we're lucky..."

"It's a pipe dream, Tommy," Adam said. "It's a pipe dream."

"Adam, you should know better, man," Rocky said. "With us, ANYTHING is possible."

TBC...


	21. 21: Preliminaries

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: I also don't own the Calgary Flames, L.A. Kings, Stanley Cup or anything related to the National Hockey League. I should also mention I don't own anything Major League Baseball related. I also don't own Dance Master, Falcon4Crane does.

Chapter 21 - Preliminaries

Sunday, August 15, 2004

7:30 p.m. local time

Olympic Indoor Hall

Maurosi, Greece

As the eight spectators watched the qualification round for the women's gymnastics competition, they knew they had to shake off the worries of what might come.

Tommy had told them all that the current team was down two Rangers now - but they couldn't worry about that. In fact, the group of eight who was sitting down with their "GO KIMBERLY" pennants, signs and USA flags were focused on nothing but this competition, and lending Kimberly their unending support.

Tommy watched how Kimberly was moving closely, watched her body movements, everything. And what he saw caused him to make a prediction that would become legendary in Power Ranger circles.

"I think she's going to kill everyone on the balance beam today," Tommy said. "Not that she needs to, but..."

"Do you have some inside information on that bro, or are you making one of your wild guesses?" Jason said.

"I'm not basing that prediction on any inside information I'm getting from her, well, maybe I am a little bit, but rather, from watching her movements," Tommy said. "Do you notice how she's looking at the balance beam?"

"Not really, but..." Aisha said.

"Well, I've noticed her and she's looked at it five or six different times since she came out for warmups. I think she has something to prove to us, that she can handle herself on the balance beam. And actually from what I understand from her teammates..."

"Yeah?" Adam said.

"The field is 'allegedly' much weaker on the balance beam than it is on the vault, which is the other event she's got going tonight," Tommy said. "I'm more concerned about the vault because I'm hoping she doesn't tire herself on the balance beam, and the field's pretty tough too."

"Top 8 make the finals on the 23rd, right?" Kat said.

"Yeah," Tommy said.

"Hey, look!" Kat said as she pointed behind them. "Look who's coming over here!"

"It's Ernie and Lt. Stone!" Rocky said, which brought wide smiles from the rest of the group. And the two men had...well, treats.

"Hey guys!" Ernie said as he stopped by the group. "We didn't know if you'd eaten already, so here's some treats for you guys to enjoy during the competition!"

"Hey thanks!" Tommy said. "We hadn't eaten yet, so thanks for covering us like usual."

"No problem, kids," Ernie said. "Cheer loud for Kim!"

We will," Adam said.

With that, the Rangers began digging in, knowing full well that Rocky's bottomless stomach would probably end up devouring a good chunk of the food Ernie had brought for them. Hot dogs, pretzels, popcorn, you name it, it was there.

It kept the Rangers busy for a while, until, finally...

"Hey, look!" Tommy said. "They're starting the balance beam competition!"

One by one, the contestants went, with Kimberly's fans looking on.

"Allana Slater looks good," Kat said as the Australian team went through. "Hopefully with that 9.587 she'll be able to make the finals at least. Gives me some pride in my home country."

"Yeah, she does look pretty good," Jason said.

"I'll tell you who looks really tough," Adam said, "are Ponor and Eremia from Romania. Those two walk with an air of confidence and they looked mighty, mighty good tonight."

"Well, if you know anything about gymnastics at all," Tommy said as he took a bite of popcorn, "you know that the Romanians are top notch in that sport. Objectively speaking, they'd be the ones to beat."

"Patterson looks great too," Aisha said as the U.S. team was going a while later.

"Well, but of course," Tommy said. "Patterson's pretty cool. She and Kim are pretty close, apparently. And Patterson is arguably the best there is in this event."

"Here we go!" Rocky said as Kimberly finally walked to the balance beam for her turn. "Here we go!"

"Rocky, please, do not have an orgasm in this arena," Aisha said. "Kim would be much displeased."

As Kim went through her routine, Tommy was quick to point out some things.

"Watch the incredible balance that Kimberly exudes on that beam," he said. Sure enough, Kim was flipped over, hands on beam and feet in the air. "You think it's Kimberly's great athletic ability that makes all the difference, but remember that exactly one little bit and the routine could go haywire. She's great at the little things too."

"Just how do you know so much?" Rocky said.

"Guys, I'm not exactly stupid, I have a fucking Ph.D for goodness sake," Tommy said. "And I watch a lot more gymnastics than you might think."

Overall, Kim would end up scoring just over a 9.6, which was good enough for fifth place and would put her in the finals in 8 days. She did eventually qualify for the vault final, too, although it was a little bit harder.

As the vault competition ended, Tommy spied Kim walking over to do an interview with someone that looked familiar.

When he saw who it was Kim was being interviewed by, his mouth dropped open.

"Tommy, what's going on?" Adam said.

"Look," Tommy said, pointing over to where Kim was being interviewed. "I know who that is - and he's good, too."

"Who is it, Tommy?" Jason said.

"That's Ron MacLean of CBC Sports in Canada," Tommy said. "He's best known as the host of Hockey Night in Canada on CBC which is one of the oldest sports television program in North America and the world. But he does good Olympic work too - he's been one of the best at that for a long time, too. I see him in the Costas mold - very professional, very detailed and very humble. He's very good."

"He does look handsome, and very confident," Kat said.

Jason shot her a dangerous look, to which Kat simply winked at him, as if to say, **'But you're more handsome than he is.'**

As soon as the interviews were done - Kim had done about three or four of them in total - she exited to a huge ovation. Moments later, the Rangers were headed out of the Hall already making plans for the 23rd.

"So that went about as you expected, didn't it?" Rocky asked Tommy.

"Yeah, it kind of did," Tommy said. "I'm not surprised Kim did well on the beam. Patterson, the Romanians and Pavlova look tough though."

"Don't they, though?" Adam said. "I mean, we're all fans of Kim, but man she's got it tough if she wants to medal at all."

"I think she'll be good to go on the 23rd," Tommy said. "I'm just glad she qualified for the vault - she'll be much better on the 23rd than she is right now."

Mesogog's Island Fortress

He was bloodied, battered, beaten down. But being the wily veteran that he was, he wasn't about to back down, even from his girlfriend.

Here on this island fortress, there was another kind of preliminary going on.

Preliminary torture.

Hayley had used every single bit of torture which she had been gifted with by her new masters. Electrical chair. Whip. Experiments. She'd done everything she could to make him bleed, and she was doing a pretty good job of it.

"Hayley, just please, let me go," Billy pleaded, almost in a whisper. "I'm no use to you now."

"Oh, but you are, darling," Hayley said in a false-sweet voice that had become her trademark. "You're useful because I'm going to make you watch your friends being tortured and destroyed, one by one. GOLDAR!"

"Yes?" Goldar said as he came into the room, bowing before her.

"It is time for your assignment. You know what to do."

"Your wish is my command."

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

8:30 p.m. local time

Reefside, CA

They had spent two hours at the early evening movie - the Rangers who were left on Earth, that is - and it had been a good time for all of them. It was a way for them to get their minds off everything that was going on.

Occasionally, Conner, Kira and Ethan were stealing glances towards Trent (who was, technically, on a date with Dischordia who was disguised as a red-haired human named Diane). They could see the nervous looks on his face and they could only wonder what was going on. Rumors had been flying around town that Anton had just disappeared out of the blue over the last 24 hours, which could only make them wonder.

As the movie was ending, no one saw the blast of fire from outside that had just hit the movie theater. That was, until the theather started being engulfed in flames - with the Rangers inside!

"You need to teleport out of here!" Trent said to his girlfriend.

"Right!"

With that, his girlfriend teleported safely back to the Mystic Mother's palace, leaving the Rangers to deal with the attacks as hordes and hordes of people streamed out of a theater that was moments away from being burned to the ground.

"These guys are so going to pay for ruining my first date," Trent said.

"Let's try to morph!" Kira said. "Then maybe we can get out of here!"

"Right!" Conner said. "IT'S MORPHIN TIME!"

"ORANGE RANGER POWER!"

"GRAY RANGER POWER!"

"GOLD RANGER POWER!"

"GREEN RANGER POWER!"

With the morph, the four were indeed teleported out of the theater as it went up in flames.

Unfortunately, as soon as the feet of the four Rangers hit the ground outside the theater, they were hit with a blast of fire which sent them backwards, and gasping for air already.

"And you want to know the bad news?" Hayley said with a vicious smirk on her face, "That's but a taste of my firepower, Rangers."

"You wouldn't dare interrupt my first date!" Trent shouted, pointing his finger at Hayley.

"Ah, but I would," Hayley said. "You can thank your mentor's meddlesome acts for me doing this. Because of his actions, you four are going to be the recipients of my newest plan. Which includes the last days you will ever see."

"And what makes you think you're different from any of the rest of the goons that we or Dr. O have faced?"

"Oh you'll see. You'll see all right. This is only my preliminary attack - good luck eventually stopping me as my attacks will only get stronger. And don't think that your older friends across the ocean are safe either. I've got some of my friends after them too. But back to the present. I'd like to introduce you to someone Dr. O is familiar with."

Hayley shot a beam from her sword - and when the light vanished, there stood a foe that Dr. Oliver had been familiar with.

"Rangers, allow me to introduce an old friend of Dr. Oliver's...Rito Revolto," Hayley said. "Rito, get them."

"With pleasure."

TBC...

TBC...


	22. 22: Missing Rangers

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: I also don't own the Calgary Flames, L.A. Kings, Stanley Cup or anything related to the National Hockey League. I should also mention I don't own anything Major League Baseball related. I also don't own Dance Master, Falcon4Crane does.

Chapter 22 - Missing Rangers

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

6:30 a.m. local time

Athens, Greece

"It's pretty funny," Tommy said to Kim as the two were driving in the Rangers rental car outside the city of Athens, and along the waterfront. "I know more about gymnastics than most of the rest of the guys - I even know more than Kat who knows quite a bit."

"Have you been watching since back in the day?" Kim said.

"Yeah, I was disappointed when you didn't quite make the 2000 team but this makes up for it quite a bit. Admittedly, I watched the whole thing when I was in undergrad. I tell ya, the field for the balance beam is going to be a tough one."

"Yeah, the Romanians and Pavlova look awesome. I can't imagine how long they've been trained - probably since 5," Kim said. "LOOK OUT!"

Kim's reason for screaming her warning shout was right there in front of Tommy, and he barely got off the road before a monstrous fireball hit the roadway, causing a huge explosion.

"You OK?" Tommy said when the fireball had ceased.

"Yeah. That was really weird," Kim said.

"Or maybe it's just me, Power Brats," a deep, familiar raspy voice rang out from nearby. In horror, the two watched as none other than Goldar stepped into view.

"What do you want with us, Goldar?" Tommy growled.

"What else would I be here for but you two?" Goldar shouted. "But really, I'm not the one that's after you. Your old friend the Purple Ranger requests your presence on Mesogog's Island Fortress, White Ranger, and your precious girlfriend will be coming with you!"

"Just like always, Goldilocks, we're going to send you back to where you came from!" Kim shouted.

"You can go tell Hayley she needs to come up with another plan!" Tommy shouted.

"Is that so, Rangers?" Goldar said.

Without warning, three Putties tackled Kim and Tommy to the ground before they could change into ninja form. Tommy and Kim easily disposed of the Putties, only to barely duck out of the way when Goldar swung his sword at them.

Tommy and Kim then backed away to a safe distance before regrouping.

Knowing what they now had, Tommy and Kim looked at each other, then nodded.

"Ready?" Kim said.

"Ready," Tommy replied.

**Flashback, two days earlier**

**The Rangers, who had been assigned to meet at a specific spot through their dreams, smiled when they saw Ninjor appear right in front of them.**

**Jason and Tommy, in particular, acknowledged the blue-armored figure.**

**"Ninjor, what's going on? Why are we here?" Adam said.**

**"Because none of you are safe any longer," Ninjor said. "Tommy's friend Hayley is not playing by the rules. I have been reaching out to Billy and he's in terrible shape. He's not breaking for Hayley but she's not playing by the rules. All of you need to be aware of your surroundings, and most of all, all of you need your powers back. I would send the Ninja Rangers on a quest but we have no time."**

**"What about some of us who have never held the Ninja?" Kat said.**

**"In due time, young Katherine, in due time," Ninjor said. "My main concern right now is to restore the remaining five original Ninja spirits and then you will be looked at. Tommy has already tapped into the powers but he has wisely stayed away from it for too long because it can have long term effects unless you are fully connected with the spirit Until they are reunited with their spirits, I must ask you to step to the side."**

**Beckoning for Adam, Aisha, Rocky, Kim and Tommy, Ninjor bade four of them form a circle around Tommy.**

**"You're not going to direct this, Ninjor?" Tommy said.**

**"No, Falcon. You will. You hold almost as much power as I do and above anything, you are fully capable of the risks that come with the Power. Go ahead."**

**Taking a deep breath, Tommy began the summoning of the Ninja power that was done by Ninjor so long ago.**

**"Older than time itself, man has always known the calling. Light of the light, strength of the soul, ignite this eternal power inside me!" Tommy called. "I AM NINJA! I am pure of mind, body, heart and soul! Join with me now as I become one with the Power of Ninja!"**

**"I am the Ape, mighty and strong!" Rocky shouted.**

**"I am the Bear, cunning and fierce!" Aisha called.**

**"I am the Frog, courageous in spirit!" Adam said.**

**"I am the Crane, agile and graceful!" Kim shouted.**

**"I am the Falcon, just and able!" Tommy bellowed.**

**As soon as Tommy uttered that final call, a brilliant white light engulfed all the Rangers. When the light died, Kim, Tommy, Aisha, Rocky and Adam stood in their uniforms.**

**"All I can say is hell yeah," Rocky said.**

**"We're gonna kick some bad guy ass," Adam said.**

**"Totally," Aisha added.**

**End Flashback**

"Let's do it!" Tommy said. "IT'S MORPHIN TIME!"

"WHITE RANGER POWER!"

"PINK RANGER POWER!"

They morphed just in time to duck out of the way of Goldar's eyeblasts, which destroyed a tree on impact.

"You'll have to do better than that, Goldar!" Tommy shouted.

"Oh, trust me, White Ranger, I will," Goldar said.

Without warning, Scorpina comes from out of nowhere and grabs Kimberly from behind, while four Putties grabbed Tommy as Goldar approached his biggest nemesis.

"You can't call for your friends, Rangers!" Scorpina shouted. "They are - uh, occupied at the moment! And we'll get them as well!"

"You won't get away with this you freaks!" Tommy shouted.

"Oh, but we will!" Goldar shouted. "We have what we came for, Scorpina! Let's go!"

"I don't think so, fools!" Tommy shouted. He then elbows a Putty on its Z shattering it on impact. He takes two of the Putties and shoves them into Goldar, and shoves the other one into Scorpina, freeing Kimberly and sending Goldar and Scorpina crashing to the dirt.

"You're gonna pay for that, punks!" Scorpina shouts as she fires a bolt from her stinger. Tommy rolls out of the way while Kimberly leaps over the blast, and before Scorpina can recover, draws her Power Bow and hits Scorpina with three successful arrows sending her crashing into a shrub.

Meanwhile...

As alarms blared throughout the hotel and the Rangers heard the surrounding rooms being evacuated, they ran to the window and frowned. Zeltrax was making the hotel a source of his target practice. He hadn't hit yet but the Rangers knew that would not hold for very long.

"Man, we've got to get OUT there!" Adam said.

"Wait!" Justin said. "This smells like a trap! Don't fall for it!"

"How can we not when there are PEOPLE in DANGER?" Rocky said. "Let's GO!"

"We'll help get the people out of here," Kat said. "you go deal with Zeltrax and whatever else may be out there!"

As Adam, Rocky and Aisha raced down the nearby stairs, the remaining Rangers set out to do what they could to get the others out of danger.

Adam, Rocky and Aisha ran outside and found Zeltrax still shooting at the hotel. They all glared at him.

"Hey!" Aisha said. "You stop shooting at this hotel right now!"

"And just what ARE you going to do about it Rangers?" Zeltrax said. Adam didn't like the look on Zeltrax's face - it was almost like he knew something they weren't supposed to know - and might not know till it was too late.

"We're going to stop you, that's what we're going to do about it metalhead!" Rocky said. "And more specifically we're going to send your candy ass back to Zedd!"

"Oh, I'm going back to Zedd, all right," Zeltrax said. "But I won't be going back alone."

Without warning, three Tyrannodrones grabbed Adam from behind and would not let go. Every time he'd try to get free, the drones would tighten their grip on him.

"Stop struggling Black Ranger, you won't get free," Zeltrax sneered as he remembered a conversation he'd had with one of his fellow warriors. "I'm sure Scorpina would be more than happy to torture you, Black Ranger."

"You keep me away from her!" Adam said.

"What kind of position are you in to make threats?" Zeltrax said as he sent energy coursing through Adam's body causing him to cry out in pain. "It's time to say goodbye to your friends, Black Ranger."

"I don't think so!" Rocky said as he suddenly came from the side and kicked two Tyrannodrones, and in the same motion, shoved the remaining one into the hotel's wall.

"Oh man, that was too close," Adam said. "We better morph."

"Right," Rocky said. "IT'S MORPHIN TIME!"

"I don't think so, Power Rangers!" Zeltrax shouted as he sent another bolt of energy their way, interrupting their morph and sending them flying to the ground - or in Rocky's case, right into the grip of four Tyrannodrones.

Rocky had no chance as the failed attempt to morph had left him weak and the Tyrannodrones gripped him easily. Zeltrax was about to make another move on Adam but then stopped - as if he was receiving a mental summons. He then backed up.

"I'll be back for you later, Black and Yellow Rangers," Zeltrax hissed as he immobilized them with a blast from his sword. "Say goodbye to your friend for now!"

With that, Zeltrax disappeared.

"Man, that was too close," Aisha said as she breathed a sigh of relief. Her relief however was shortlived as Justin appeared with tears in his eyes.

"I saw the whole thing," Justin said before any of the Rangers could speak. "And the news gets worse."

"What happened, hon?" Aisha said as she hugged her boyfriend tight.

"The bad guys got Conner, too," Justin said.

"WHAT?" Adam said.

"Apparently, the younger Rangers were all on Trent's first date with - well, whoever it was, and ran into an ambush from Hayley and Rito."

"Rito?" Aisha said. "That bonehead's back?"

"Apparently," Justin said, eyes still tearful. "And they got Conner."

"I don't like what's going on here," Jason said as he came into view. "I don't like how I just saw Zeltrax retreat, I don't like how he acted so confident - like he knows something that we don't."

"Let's call Tommy and Kim to make sure they're OK," Kat said.

With Tommy and Kim

As Tommy hoisted Kim up and simply tossed her through the air at a defenseless Putty, he felt good. Real good.

And as Kim's foot smashed down on the Putty's chest sending it to smithereens, he pumped his fist.

"The boys are back in town, eh handsome?" Kim said as she high fived Tommy.

"Tommy nodded and winked at her before turning his attention to his two oldest adversaries.

"All right, you two, no more Putties to hide behind!" Tommy said. "You want us - come and get us!"

Goldar was about to make a move when he suddenly, much like Zeltrax had, received a mental summons. He suddenly backed off.

"What's the matter, Goldar?" Tommy mocked. "Are you two scared of us."

"We aren't in the least bit scared of you two!" Goldar said boldly. "But what you should be worried about is your safety!"

"Catch you later, Power Brats!" Scorpina said.

With that, Goldar and Scorpina disappeared in twin flashes of light.

Tommy looked at Kim and called out "Power Down!"

Immediately the two were both back in their civilian clothing. And no sooner were they back in civilian clothing than they heard their new communicators beep.

"This is Tommy, go ahead."

"Tommy, I got some bad news," Adam said.

"What happened, bro?"

"Zeltrax got Rocky," Adam said.

Kim gasped in horror. And the bombshell had just dropped on that bit of news when Kira, who was also hooked up to the rest, joined the conversation.

"Rito and Hayley got Conner," Kira said as she sobbed in agony.

Now it was Tommy's turn to gasp in horror. Conner had been Tommy's prized leader and now he was in the hands of evil - and who knew what they would do to him.

"Is everyone else OK? On both ends?" Tommy said.

"Yes," Trent said as he chimed in.

"Everyone else is here too," Aisha said. "Thank God you two are all right."

"OK, look, everyone just stay safe, and be on your guard," Tommy said. "I'll teleport back to my base as soon as I get a chance and I have something that may help. Dino Thunder Rangers meet me in my basement in one hour, got it?"

"You got it," Jason said through Adam's communicator. "Jason out."

"Right, Doctor O," Trent said. "Trent's out too."

TBC...


	23. 23: More Captured Rangers

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: I also don't own the Calgary Flames, L.A. Kings, Stanley Cup or anything related to the National Hockey League. I should also mention I don't own anything Major League Baseball related. I also don't own Dance Master, Falcon4Crane does.

A/N 3: Character death mentioned in this chapter. You have been warned.

Chapter 23 - More Captured Rangers

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

9:30 local time

1492 Valencia Drive

Reefside, CA

"Are you OK?" Zordon said to a sobbing Kira Ford as the remaining teens, as well as Tommy and the Space Rangers, stood in his basement. While the basement was now free of danger, it had come with a price.

Now the Rangers themselves were being targeted - each and every one of them. The Space Rangers had a safe haven because they could always go to the Megaship even if it meant TJ and Delisha leaving their residence for a few days for their own safety - but the active Rangers had no such luxury.

The bad guys weren't playing by the rules anymore.

"Honestly?" Kira said as she continued to sob uncontrollably, "no I'm not. How can I be? My boyfriend is gone, we're all being targeted, and I just don't know what to do!"

"Kira, please get a hold of yourself," Andros said. "I would hate for this to eat you up inside. You remind me so much of my wife it's almost eerie. Remember this - your mentor is the best Ranger in the known universe. If anyone can ever get you out of trouble, it's that man right there."

He nodded at Tommy, but Tommy shook his head.

"Honestly, Andros?" Tommy said.

"Yeah?"

"I'm just as scared as she is," Tommy said. "The bad thing is, we don't know when and where they're going to attack now. Goldar and Scorpina attacked Kim and I while we were on the road. Nearly blew up our rental car with a huge fireball. Kira is right, they are after each and every one of us, and it doesn't matter to them anymore how they get us as long as they do it. But I have something that may help...at least, I hope it does."

Mesogog's Island Fortress

"Ah, it's finally good to have a couple of Rangers in our clutches," Zedd grinned as Conner and Rocky were dragged into Mesogog's lab by Goldar and Scorpina, who had tied them in chains before dragging them in.

"What the hell do you want with us, radiator face?" Rocky shouted.

"Oh, the same as I always do, Red Ranger. The total destruction of Zordon's legacy! But this time, it's going to be played out on OUR turf, not yours!"

Conner and Rocky glanced nervously at each other. What could Zedd and Hayley possibly be planning that they were so confident about? They had been confident before, but Rocky had never seen Zedd with such a gleam in his eye. It was like he couldn't wait for what was about to happen.

"And I'm focusing on two of your beloved pests in particular. I bet you can take a guess who those are," Zedd continued. "They will fall at my feet, as will all of you. None of you stand a chance of leaving this fortress again!"

Conner and Rocky gasped. Both now knew who Zedd was really after - even more than the destruction of Zordon's legacy, he himself wanted to pay two particular Rangers back for all the torture they had caused him over the years.

"Mesogog, take them to wherever you hold your prisoners," Zedd said.

"As you wisssssssssh, Lord Zedd."

Zedd then turned to Thrax. "Did you accomplish what you set out to accomplish?"

"Yes," Thrax said. "There's no doubt Tommy gets word of this situation."

"Good. It should ruin him for awhile," Zedd siad. "It should ruin that Gold Ranger too, being that he is that misfit's son."

Tommy's Basement

"There. That should do it," Tommy said. "You should all be safe for the next few days while we try to figure out what the hell the bad guys want."

"Dr. O, do you really think this is going to work?" Kira said.

"I don't know, Kira. I really don't. That's why I said it SHOULD keep you safe," Tommy said. "Because once Hayley figures out what I've done - and I know it won't be long before she does - she'll try and undo what I've done. And she's fully capable of breaking in here and undoing what I've done. I would advise all of you to go home for now, and get some good night's rest because it's obvious you don't know when you'll need it. And one more thing."

"And that is?" Ethan said.

"Don't go out unless you absolutely have to," Tommy said. "I've placed a forcefield around each of your homes - and I've placed one around the Mystic Mother's palace too - so that Hayley and her misfits can't get in and take you guys while you're sleeping. Obviously with what I've just done you'll be safe for now if you go out but that may not last too long."

"All right then," Trent said. "Dismissed?"

"Dismissed," Tommy said, nodding at Trent as he knew Trent wanted to get back to his girlfriend.

Before leaving, Tommy looked at his watch on the opposite wrist of his communicator and saw that it was near 10:00 so he decided to go turn on the news.

But what he saw at the beginning of the newscast completely shocked him, as well as shaking him to his very core.

In shock, he watched as the news displayed a bolt of lightning from Thrax himself hitting the car that belonged to Anton Mercer, with him inside as the car went up in flames.

And he could see Anton breathing his last, as the news indeed reported that Trent's adopted father, and Tommy's mentor since college, was dead.

As Tommy cried like a baby for twenty whole minutes, those who were there surrounded him - trying, as futile as it may have been, to ease Tommy's pain.

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

8:30 a.m. local time

Athens, Greece

As the Rangers who weren't captured sat in one of their hotel rooms, in a "mandatory" meeting, which Tommy had called immediately upon returning to Athens, they looked on in shock. There was their very leader, their heart and soul, crying himself to pieces on Kimberly's shoulder in the wake of the news they'd received.

"Just - how COULD they?" Aisha said. "We've never been killed in battle before, and none of our friends have been killed either."

"I don't know, Aisha," Adam said. "I just don't know."

"Guys, ENOUGH!" Jason roared, loud enough for everyone to hear. Tommy glanced at Jason but Jason allowed him to continue to sob on Kimberly shoulder.

"Jason?" Justin said.

"Guys, I want you to listen and listen well," Jason said. "This isn't like the old days anymore. These aren't like the old monster attacks we're used to where we beat up on some weakling - though I will say that some of those 'weaklings' have been an asset for us in this fight, so that is a plus."

"What's the point?" Adam said.

"The point is this. These guys have figured out that isn't working anymore. Everyone here HAS to realize we could all be killed, at ANY POINT! That's the risk we agreed to when we put on the spandex for the first time, all those years ago! Zordon said the power would protect us, but that may not always be true in some cases. These guys want to KILL us - want to annihilate Zordon's entire legacy and it's high time we figured that out and adjust accordingly!"

Justin nodded as he knew this all too well - he and the current Space team had almost suffered that very fate at the hands of the woman who was once known as Divatox. He and Jason glanced at each other, and then again. Both knew they had come perilously close to death in their time as Rangers, in ways that no other Ranger could ever say. Even when Kim had been held in Zedd's dimensional prison during the time she didn't have her coin, she still had Tommy out there and there was reason to believe that Tommy would legitimately get her out.

"Rita imprisoned me in her dark dimension when Tommy was under her services," Jason said. "Tommy very nearly killed me - had you been in Rita's dark dimension at the time you would have felt the same fear I did. Justin and I share a unique perspective even though we're from different generations of Rangers because Divatox nearly killed him too."

"That being said," Justin continued as he glanced around the rest of the group, "you have to believe that we will, eventually, overcome. We always have before, and while it's not a given that we will overcome now, they've never beaten us before when things looked grim."

"So what do we do now?" Aisha said.

"First, we somehow have to tell our friends that we're the Power Rangers, and that we have been for the better part of ten years without them losing their sanity," Adam said. "Because you know that after Anton's death any of them could be next."

"Agreed," Jason said. "They will kill anyone and everyone to get to us. Tommy?"

"Yes?" Tommy somehow responded through his tears.

"Can you somehow get yourself together and find Ernie and Stone and tell them to try to not venture out unless they have to? They already know about us, so I need you and Kim to pass this news to them," Jason said.

"Consider it done," Kim said, suddenly.

"Good," Jason said. "Now I can make a call to someone who is in the military who might able to help us."

"Who?" Zack said.

"Does the name Eugene Skullovitch mean anything to any of you?" Jason said.

"Skull?" Kim said, as she suddenly peeked her head out from around Tommy shoulder, "Went into the army?"

"Actually, yeah, and he actually went into the Air Force, not the army," Jason said. "Skull's actually in amazing shape. The United States Air Force has done him a world of good."

Jason then picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, yes, can I speak to Mr. Skullovitch please? Oh, it's you. Hey, man this is Jason here. Look, I need your help with something. This is going to take a few minutes."

10 minutes later, after a discussion that seemed calm, and placid considering the situation, Jason finally hung up the phone.

"Skull is lucky enough to be stationed at the Air Force base in Angel Grove, so he'll be able to let me know if anything happens there," Jason said. "He said he'd also go ahead and get ahold of Ms. Appleby and put her on notice should the goon patrol go after her too."

"How long has he been in the Air Force?" Kim said.

"Four years," Jason said, "including two trips to Iraq since 9/11. He's been one of the most dependable Air Force officers, his superiors tell me. Lt. Stone would be proud. He'll take care of us, I know he will."

Thursday, August 19, 2004

4:30 p.m. local time

Athens, Greece

"Hey, are you OK?" Kim said as she and Tommy sat on the beach, trying to keep themselves relaxed even though the situation was indeed tightening up. And things were quiet, too quiet.

"I'm just nervous, Kim," Tommy said. It's not like we're exactly in seclusion. We're basically an inviting target for them to snatch and they've been real quiet lately. I can only imagine how bad off Billy is right now."

"Yeah, but Tommy, there's only so much we can do," Kim said. "We can't exactly go barging in there right now. We just have to wait and right now we haven't found a way in there yet. You heard Zordon yesterday - the security there is tighter than it ever has been."

Just then, Tommy looked up in surprise as Adam came running towards them both, tears in his eyes.

"Adam what's wrong?" Kim said.

"Tanya...Scorpina abducted her and Kira...it was right outside the Cyberspace..." Adam said, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Tommy had a defeated look on his face. Hayley had seeminly destroyed the forcefield he'd put around the others just like that, and used it to her advantage.

"Oh my gosh," Kim said, hand over her mouth. "When did this happen?"

"Just five minutes ago...Rocky reached out to me on my ninja link, he's in bad shape too...his signal's dying," Adam said, fresh tears shining in his eyes. "God, who knows what that whore Scorpina's got in store for Tanya, I don't even want to think about it..."

"What about the Turbo morphers?" Tommy said, concerned.

"No problem there, Ethan was nearby and got out of there with them but still...."

Tommy just shook his head. The situation was getting darker and darker by the minute.

"Only eight of us are left," Tommy said.

"And what's worse, Rocky believes he heard something about Zedd summoning Photomare from the dead..."

This got horrified looks from Tommy and Kim. All three of these Rangers had dealt with Photomare back in the day and knew what she was capable of. They could only guess what mission Zedd had for her but...

"If Photomare gets our friends in a photograph, on Zedd's turf..." Tommy said. "this could truly be the end of the Power Rangers."

As Tommy trudged back towards the hotel dejectedly, behind Adam and Kim, he stumbled going up a small hill and some kind of envelope fell out of his pocket - an envelope he didn't even realize he had.

Tommy curiously opened the envelope, and smiled at who it was from as he began to read the encased letter.

_Tommy,_

_Hey it's me. I just want to tell you that it's important not to hang your head in this situation right now. I've seen you and Kim get out of situations far worse than the one you guys are in right now, so don't despair. Always remember this: True love will always survive, regardless of the outcome. Don't give up._

_Regards,_

_The Mystic Mother_

_PS - Dischordia's got Trent and yes he is OK. He took Anton's death pretty bad at first but has come to accept it. He will be fine._

That alone was enough to put a smile back on Tommy's face as he called out, "Hey Beautiful wait up!" and rushed back into the hotel. For the moment, it didn't matter to him that the odds of winning this war looked bleaker than Tommy actually winning the lottery.

He felt like a champion again, and in a time of great distress, this was a welcome sight for any Ranger, living or dead.

TBC...


	24. 24: Coming Attractions

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: I also don't own the Calgary Flames, L.A. Kings, Stanley Cup or anything related to the National Hockey League. I should also mention I don't own anything Major League Baseball related. I also don't own Dance Master, Falcon4Crane does.

A/N 3: My attempt at a chapter with fluff on a lot of different fronts. The battle resumes in Chapter 25.

Chapter 24 - Coming Attractions

Thursday, August 19, 2004

7:00 p.m.

Athens, Greece

Not even a talk with the Immortal Couple themselves was able to mask the sorrow that Adam Park was feeling right now.

His wife was in the clutches of evil - and Adam knew all too well that she was in unspeakable danger.

"I'll never get her back now," Adam sobbed as he stared at the ocean.

Adam thought about all they'd been through. The first day he'd met Tanya, he was a goner and he knew it. He was also proud of the fact that while Tommy and Kim were once and again considered the Immortal Power Couple, he and Tanya had been the first to be married and they were proud to be showoffs about that fact.

**Flashback**

**July 7, 2001**

**St. Mary's Catholic Church**

**Stone Canyon, CA**

**"I now pronounce you husband and wife," a priest said as Adam and Tanya locked eyes. "Adam, you may now kiss your bride."**

**Words could not even begin to describe the emotions that were rushing through every pore of Adam's body as he enveloped Tanya's lips in the most fiery, passionate kiss he had ever been involved in - with anyone. Never would he have thought that he could have been blessed with the best gift he'd ever received...which was the woman who was now his wife, forever.**

**The same was true for Tanya, who remembered the day she'd first arrived in Angel Grove. And in the same breath, she remembered the first time she locked eyes with Adam Park. The first time that happened, she was gone and she had the feeling he was too.**

**This day had been five years in the making. The Machine Empire hadn't stopped this day, Divatox hadn't stopped this day, classes at UCLA hadn't stopped this day and both the couple's rising star status (Tanya had the beginnings of her singing career, while Adam was in Hollywood working on stunts with the very best of the best Hollywood had to offer) hadn't stopped this day. This was going to happen no matter what, just as sure as evil would always be defeated, just as sure as Zordon's original 12 would always be the most tight-knit unit of any group of Power Rangers ever.**

**And now, the dreams of both Adam and Tanya were as real as the sun in the sky, as real as the birds in the trees and as real as everything they both had grown up with.**

**"Ladies and gentlemen, I now present to you, for the first time ever, Mr and Mrs. Adam Park!"**

**2 hours later**

**The Youth Center**

**Angel Grove, CA**

**It was now early evening in Southern California, and one would have thought this was the Fourth of July even though it was three days late because the party was on.**

**Everyone was having a great time at Adam and Tanya's wedding reception, as somehow the Rangers had sweet-talked Angela, Zack's ex-girlfriend (who happened to be a close friend of Tanya's due to their singing careers) to DJ the party which made it all the better.**

**Flanked by Jason on one side and her best friend Kat on the other, Tanya enveloped Adam into a slow, easy dance. The feeling hadn't sunk in yet for either of them, as the two were both running on adrenaline.**

**"Finally, this day has come," Adam said. "I need to ask you something - how did you feel when we first met? I know it took several years for this relationship to blossom but I need to know how you felt on first glance."**

**"You want an honest answer?" Tanya said. "Adam, I was gone and never to come back when I first put my eyes on you. I just hoped you felt the same way because you never let your feelings show - couldn't let your feelings show because otherwise either one of us would have been targets. When you told me that you loved me just as much there on the beach right after Dimitria forced us out in 97, I will never forget it."**

**"Easy now, don't trip, there you go," Adam said as he saw his wife uncharacteristically stumble but regain her feet quickly. "That's exactly how I felt. The last thing I wanted for anybody was for Divatox or Mondo or Gasket to make either one of us targets. It was so hard to watch Tommy and Kim be targets for the likes of Rita and Zedd back in the day and I didn't want the same thing to happen to you. But when we retired, I knew it was time to let it all go."**

**Then, Tanya glanced over her shoulder at some commotion and saw a huge wedding cake coming out.**

**"I believe the welcome wagon's arrived," Adam said as they both walked over to where the cake was.**

**The cake had been, of course, specifically Ranger oriented, with the cake honoring both of the Rangers' legacies. It was primarily green and yellow with lemons in and around the cake, and it was framed by a layer of dark chocolate as if to honor Adam's heritage as the Black Ranger.**

**As they cut the cake, the first official married couple in Power Rangers history never felt so happy.**

**End Flashback**

Then, he thought about the first time they went all the way together - that night. It was almost as blissful as the wedding itself.

**Flashback**

**The party had ended long ago, they both were back home, it was around midnight and for the first time in forever - they were in a room together, alone.**

**But they weren't going to just going to sleep together - oh no. What was coming was going to be very special indeed.**

**"I don't want to wait a second longer, Tanya," Adam said as he lifted his shirt off, causing Tanya to gasp as Adam had never shown this uber-sexy side of him before. "Would you be so kind as to make love to me?"**

**"There is no one that deserves love-making with a good woman more than you," Tanya said. No sooner had those words escaped her lips, she pressed Adam's lips up against her own voraciously before breaking the kiss and moving down to his neck. Meanwhile, Adam's immaculate touch and lips began finding her soft spots, causing her to smile in pleasure.**

**"Hold on just a second," Tanya said. Adam knew what she was about to do, but couldn't help but gasp as she ripped her halter top off, exposing, well, almost her full beauty for Adam to see. In response, Adam used his free hand to rip off his shorts, while moving his other hand to take Tanya's skirt off, which he did.**

**"Let's move this to the bed," Tanya said. "Much more suitable."**

**Adam nodded as he took Tanya's free hand with his own, and they both slid onto the bed - with Tanya lying down, Adam on top of her. As their excitement both grew through the night and they eventually came to the ultimate moment, they found in themselves a passion and love that was indescribable.**

**For the rest of that night, they both shared in sexual relations that neither of them had ever before been in. They found every single way possible to make love - with Adam focusing on Tanya's breasts, and Tanya paying special attention to Adam's crotch.**

**It was truly a night neither of them would ever forget - on so many levels.**

**End Flashback**

He then began reliving their honeymoon, the birth of their son (who was a result of that piece of sexual intercourse) in February of 2002, and every single moment the two had shared together.

And now, there was a chance it might all be for naught. The thought of Tanya being raped and tortured by Zedd's goons and being utterly destroyed was enough to want to make him throw up.

Nearby, Tommy and Kim were watching Adam very closely. Kimberly, quite frankly, couldn't believe Adam was acting like this.

"I still don't understand, what's he so broken up about?" Kim said. "I mean, we will get her back, right?"

"Kim, Tanya means the world to him," Tommy said. "Tanya is the only person on Earth, I am convinced, that can open up a side of him that we never saw. Do you recall how we always worried about him after he took over for Zack?"

"Yeah, I do," Kim said. "He was always so shy and would never open up."

"Well, I haven't seen that Adam in years and there is one common denominator - Tanya. She's been the best thing he's ever had," Tommy said. "I'm sure he's also worried about what Scorpina might do to her - that even though we may get her out of there, she may never be the same again."

"I couldn't live with myself if Scorpina captured you and fucked you over," Kim said. "That sadistic bitch seems to revel in trying to make Adam's life miserable."

"She's obsessed with him, Kim. She wants to torture Adam, both physically and mentally. She's also insanely jealous of the fact that Adam actually married, something I can guaran-damn-tee you Scorpina thought would NEVER happen."

Tommy began thinking for a moment, and then looked at Kim again.

"If there's one thing that I've learned from Adam and Tanya's marriage it's this," Tommy said. "We ain't nothing."

"What do you mean?" Kim said.

"We had potential that we never tapped into," Tommy said as he put his head against Kim's shoulder. "I know people in our circles that call us the Immortal Power Couple. But the real immortal couple is Adam and Tanya because they live good lives, they have a great two year old kid and most of all they are perfect for each other and they took the leap of faith that we have yet to take."

"I still have faith we're going to get her back," Kim said. "And when I get my hands on Scorpina, there's no telling what I might do to that bitch. I've never met Tanya but this already hurts just as bad as the night Trini was killed."

"We need to stay together, Kim. Adam needs us, the whole world needs us, and most of all, we need us," Tommy said as he locked his lips with Kim's and started gently rubbing her body. "If they really want to bring back Photomare, trap the Rangers in a photograph and lure us there for a rescue mission, then I say bring them all on. Bring on Photomare, bring on Zedd, Goldar, Scorpina, Thrax, bring on the whole damn army, anyone they can throw at us."

"So what you're telling them is just bring it?" Kim said.

"That's exactly right. They'll know who they're messing with when you and I get through with them, showing them that we are the best damn Power Rangers there ever was."

"Thing is, they have no idea who they're messing with, handsome," Kim whispered in his ear as the two held each other tight.

9:00 p.m.

As they both looked out at the ocean, Jason and Kat both had thoughts running through their heads.

For Kat, she was simply worried about her best friend. Though she'd come face to face with Zedd and Goldar, she really had no clue about what Zedd and his goons were truly capable of especially since the team was being split along the seams by their archenemies.

For Jason, it felt weird because he had never really seen this side of Zedd, or Goldar, or Scorpina or anyone else. Back in the day when they were first fighting, it wasn't really that personal. Rita (or when she was Rita), Zedd and later Mesogog just wanted the Earth, that was all. For all that had been said about Zedd when he first arrived, how he destroyed the Dinozords, how he literally drained Tommy of his Green Powers, how he'd tried unsuccessfully to make Kimberly his, those battles with him had been much like the fights with Rita beforehand - it was the same thing. He sends Putties and a monster, Rangers beat the monster's ass and call it a day.

But in the previous weeks, the other side of Zedd had come out and it was not a pretty one. Now he not only wanted the Earth, it was clear he wanted to shatter Zordon's legacy once and for all. Even more than that, Zedd and Mesogog were clearly after Tommy, and Zedd wanted to end Kim as well.

"Would you even have imagined we'd be facing something like this?" Kat said as she took Jason into her arms.

"I led this team into battle for over a year, stood by Tommy's side when he led the team for two brief periods and I've never seen such a personal battle on so many levels," Jason said. "Not even when Rita...well, when she was Rita...had Tommy in her possession was it this personal and I was front and center for that too."

"Speaking of Rita, or what she is now. How's she taking this whole thing?" Kat said.

"I truly don't think she's too worried," Jason said. "I talked to her the other night. She is so confident about our chances it's scary."

"I want some of what she's drinking because I'm really, really scared," Kat said. "I'm scared for my best friend, and I'm scared about both Tommy and Kim. Somehow, it's probably going to all come down to them. Can they both handle THAT big a load?"

"Kat, you truly don't have any idea what they're both capable of, no offense, hon," Jason said. "You only caught them at the end of their first reign. I saw them in their prime, when they were at their best. I think the world of them both and if it comes down to just the two of them against all odds, then honest to God I like our chances."

"Still I want some of what she's drinking," Kat said. "I do hear Trent is in her care, which is good."

"Yeah, she's more worried about seeing to Trent's well being, which is good consideirng how much that kid has been through," Jason said. All of a sudden, he gasped at what Kat was about to do. "What - what's going on?"

"I'm thinking about you and I getting in the water," Kat said as she pulled off her clothes revealing her swim trunks.

"I thought you weren't one for getting in the water?"

"That's so 1995, Jason," Kat said. "I'm in the mood to get in the water - tonight."

"Considering what we face, that isn't such a bad idea," Jason said, as he changed into his swim trunks, and he and Kat giggled all the way to the water, got in, and began splashing each other constantly.

10:00 p.m.

"Holy crap!" Aisha said as she looked at Justin's work on the daily crossword puzzle they both were looking at. Aisha had always claimed that the crossword puzzle was her yard, but Justin was matching her, clue for clue. "How the hell long have you been doing this?"

"I've done it for years," Justin said. "I used to take these to school every single day and while everyone would head somewhere, I'd sit outside and I'd work on these daily. Now you know what I'm capable of."

"I think you're the only one who has ever claimed to be in my league and backed it up," Aisha said. "I'm just - shocked. So many have claimed, so many have fallen way short of my league."

"People would ask me all the time why I do these every day," Justin said. "It's mental exercise. It helps get you ready to think every single day and more often than not when I do these, I'm on top of my game every single day. Ms. Appleby used to nickname me the unofficial champion of the crossword puzzle back in the day."

"Hey, that was MY title!" Aisha said.

"Wait, then we could be...co-champions."

"Yeah, you could say that," Aisha said as the Yellow Bear and the youngest Power Ranger in history locked eyes. "Who started you on this anyway? Somehow I didn't think this would be your thing."

"You can thank your best friend for that," Justin said. "All those days when nothing was going right, either she was strumming her guitar or doing this after practice. I've even been shopping with her."

"You - shopping with her? No way."

"Way," Justin said. "Been there for seven straight hours with her, and she'll tell you I didn't groan once. I gave her what she wanted and she gave me what I wanted. Give and take. I've been telling you this for a while...people may call us polar opposites but we have far more in common than they'd want to admit."

Aisha nodded and then said, "You know, it is kind of getting late. Think we should get some shut-eye?"

"Yeah," Justin said as he slyly moved close to his girlfriend. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Even though it seems like our reign might come to an end, I'm getting the strangest feeling, I don't even care about our situation at this moment and it scares the crap out of me."

"I stopped being worried about it a long time ago, Justin," Aisha said, as she began to playfully flirt with him. "And I'm not worried because as long as Kim and Tommy can stand upright to fight against Zedd, that's all that matters. And right now, all that matters is that I have you in my arms."

As the two moved to one of the two beds in their hotel room, they both had that same thought - the same thought Aisha hoped would permeate the entire team.

As long as they had each other, nothing else mattered.

Saturday, August 21, 2004

Mystic Mother's Palace

Reefside, CA

"So, have you talked to the boss?" Trent asked Dischordia as his girlfriend cuddled Trent against her, Trent stroking her face.

"Yeah I did. I've got good news for you."

"Give it to me."

"Your friends will be OK, I think, as long as Zedd doesn't stall and put his plan into action pretty soon."

"What does she mean by that?"

"Well, I'm not the one you should ask. Maybe you should ask your mentor, your real boss."

At that, Dischordia waved her free hand, and Trent turned around to see something he thought he might never see again - or was it someone he thought he'd never see again.

"Hey, Trent, good to see you man," Dr. Oliver said as he embraced Trent. "I see she's been taking good care of you."

"Oh yeah," Trent said. Then, he turned and saw who was with Dr. Oliver.

"Wait a damn second," Trent said as his mouth dropped open in shock. "Is she..."

"Yeah, I am THE ONE, so to speak," the woman and hopeful future Gold Medalist said as she embraced Trent. "I'm Kimberly Hart, but just call me Kimberly or Kim, doesn't make a damn bit of difference."

"Why are you guys here anyways?" Trent said. "Aren't you two supposed to be in Athens?"

"Well yeah, but considering the whole damn team and pretty much the whole world knows I'm a Ranger, and has probably figured out Tommy is one too, the coach gave us both free reign to come and go as we please as long as I show up to compete for the gold on Sunday."

"Awesome," Trent said. "I get to meet the First Pink Ranger and a future Gold Medalist, what an honor."

"The pleasure is mine, and it's the pleasure of our friend the Mystic Mother to allow us to be here so no one will see us until it's too late," Tommy said.

"So I'm guessing you two have a plan worked out?" Trent said.

"Yeah. Wanna hear it?" Kim said. "After all, our plan is that damn good."

"Yeah, spill it!"

"OK," Tommy said. "Here's how it's going to work..."

TBC...

TBC...


	25. 25: Plans Have Changed

A/N: I don't own anything, Saban and Disney own the Rangers and characters. Bob Costas belongs to NBC Sports and HBO, as does his show Costas Now, which at this time was called On the Record with Bob Costas. Iron Chef America, I believe, belongs to the Food Network as do Mario Batali and Cat Cora.

A/N 2: I also don't own the Calgary Flames, L.A. Kings, Stanley Cup or anything related to the National Hockey League. I should also mention I don't own anything Major League Baseball related. I also don't own Dance Master, Falcon4Crane does.

A/N 3: I would suggest reading Where the Zackman's Been to get an idea of the latest character to be introduced to the story. Hint: she's Zordon's annoying older sister, as you are about to witness.

Chapter 25 - Plans Have Changed

Saturday, August 21, 2004

9:00 p.m.

Reefside, CA

"So does everyone remember what everyone is supposed to do?" Tommy said.

"Yes," Trent said grimly. "With or without bodies, we have to go through with this. It's our only hope."

"What plans?" a voice said. "I don't think you've heard the news but you boys aren't calling the shots around here right now."

"Says who?" Tommy said before he turned around, shockingly, to find Zack standing before him, smile on his face.

"Uh, Zack, I think you must be braindead because quite frankly you seem to have forgotten that I'm the leader, Zordon brought this plan to me and we approved, so we kind of are calling the shots here," Tommy said.

"Sad to say, not anymore you aren't," Zack said. "We know what you are planning and it is a good plan. But the thing is, it's risky - especially for you, Zordon - and I'm not the only one who agrees. I'm sad to say that all of you have been overruled - by this woman."

Zack waved his free hand and Zordon gasped in shock and horror. There, right before his very eyes, was his annoying older sister Kristen. To him, she was sticking her nose in business it didn't belong in - again.

Zordon was too shocked to speak as his sister casually walked up to him and brother and sister stood, mere inches away, face to face.

"I don't think my plans involved you," Zordon groused. "You're getting involved in my business, just like you always do."

"So this is how a brother treats his older sister nowadays," Kristen said. "But then again, I know you better than you know you. What do you possibly think you can accomplish by risking your own life going into Mesogog's fortress? You do know that's basically asking for your death sentence right?"

"Kristen, I just want this to END, OK? I've been at this for over 10,000 years and I just can't take it anymore. One way or another, this HAS to end," Zordon said. "It's not like I'm going to be going in there alone."

"Yeah but the thing is you don't HAVE to go in there in the first place," Kristen shot back. "I know you want to be noble and end this once and for all, but this is not the way to do it. Besides, you really haven't thought about ALL the factors involved, like I have."

Zordon sighed, but said nothing as he continued to listen.

"Have you thought that Mesogog and Zedd might actually be smart? Have you even thought to think they will attack the city while you would recklessly go in there and possibly get yourself killed? It would rip the hearts of your young proteges over there and they would never be the same. Then we'd be in real trouble," Kristen said. "No, your plan is built on a grudge and while it might work, it's not worth taking the risk. My plan is more on the safe side."

Tommy, Trent, Zack and Kim watched in wondering. They'd never seen Zordon involved in this kind of dynamic before. Meanwhile, Zack was simply standing off to the side nonchalantly.

"My plan is this," Kristen said. "When everything is ready, it will not be you that goes into Mesogog's island lair. Tommy and Kim will be going...and they will go alone."

This news sent shockwaves through Tommy and Kim - it was a bombshell to say the very least.

"Our mission is not to end it - no, no no. Although Tommy and Kim could end this once and for all with the powers they now have," Kristen said, "and believe me, they have enough power to destroy Zedd, Mesogog, Goldar or Scorpina on the spot, that is not their mission. Their mission is simply to rescue their comrades before they are lost to us forever."

"The hell does she think she is?" Kim whispered fiercely in Tommy's ear.

"I have no idea," Tommy whispered back. "But I have no idea what she's thinking by this plot of hers."

"Meanwhile, this guy," Kristen said, pointing at Zack, "and this guy will stay behind and defend the city from whatever comes. Because if I know Zedd and Mesogog, it's almost a guarantee they WILL attack the city while Tommy and Kim are gone."

Zordon then lost it. That was all he needed to hear as that announcement simply made him lose it.

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Zordon nearly shouted. "YOU CAN'T DO THAT! WHAT IF THEY NEVER COME OUT OF THAT FORTRESS ALIVE? WHAT IF THEY ARE NEVER THE SAME AGAIN AFTER THE BATTLE! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

Zordon was about to grab his sister by the throat when suddenly Zack stepped in.

"Settle down now," Zack said. "This isn't like you. She is your sister after all and is just as qualified to make these decisions as you are."

"Are you defying me?" Zordon hissed at Zack. "Are you taking HER side in this matter?"

It was then that Zack dropped the second bombshell in less than five minutes.

"Well, I guess you could say I am taking her side," Zack said, "since she is my girlfriend and all..."

That was the last straw for Zordon as he began to storm out of Tommy's basement. The only thing that kept him from possibly hurting any of Tommy's property was Mystic Mother and Ninjor, who both grabbed him.

"I'm gonna get you both, you sanctimonious 'peacemakers!'" Zordon yelled.

10 minutes later...

For some time, it was all quiet in Tommy's basement as Tommy, Trent and Kim gathered in a huddle. Zack had ordered Kristen not to interfere in their huddle, out of sheer respect.

"What do you guys think?" Kim whispered.

"I don't know about this family business that's going on between Zordon and his sister but as the overall leader of this team, Zordon's actions were completely uncalled for, unbefitting of someone who has held the power and I'm very sorry his sister had to listen to that," Tommy said.

"I agree," Trent said. "The sad part was that was all real. He wasn't even under some kind of spell."

Kim nodded and they broke the huddle - and turned to their latest visitor.

"As the leader of this team," Tommy said as he stepped forward, "I'm sincerely sorry you had to listen to that. That was completely disrespectful to treat you, his sister like that."

"Dr. Oliver," Kristen said, "it's a pleasure to meet you, and, uh, some of your team. As far as my brother goes, I'm not taking it too hard. That's nothing new - he takes himself way too seriously as if he can finish this thing by himself and he thinks I'm a meddlesome, goody two-shoes that doesn't belong in this business. I was actually thinking he would like my plan, that he would respect me enough to go along with it. Ha, that was laughable."

"Well, as the leader of the team, I've heard both plans and I say yours is better," Tommy said. "Zordon doesn't need to be going in there - that's like throwing an Earth-sized bullseye on all our backs. We can't take everyone we have left in there! Has everyone else been captured besides us?"

"Yes. Every last one of them," Kristen said ruefully.

Tommy and Kim nodded and then left the basement. This was going to be a most dangerous mission indeed - they were going to have to do it alone and they hadn't had a mission together in many, many years.

As they left the basement, they stopped and Kim said, "OK, which one of us wants to be the one to try to calm Zordon down?"

Kim was quite shocked when Tommy said, "You go do it."

Kim just stood there, not believing what she had just heard.

"I'm serious about it," Tommy said. "I might be the leader, but you're the one he's always going to listen to. You're the one who originally thought the plan was good but in the back of your mind you were having second thoughts."

"I'm glad his sister came along and I'm quite glad he's not going in there," Kim said. "He can't afford to go in there. OK, I'll go talk to him. You should go get some rest."

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Tommy said.

"Of course I'm sure," Kim said. "It's nothing I haven't handled before. Remember my step-father Ken?"

Tommy gulped and swallowed hard, remembering just how bad of a stepfather Ken Hart had been to Kimberly. He'd been in the early stages of his friendship with Kim when he'd met Ken and the two never really liked each other that much. Tommy thought Ken was a loudmouth, arrogant asshole and Ken thought Tommy was too much of a degenerate to be in a relationship with his step-daughter.

Tommy nodded and both then went their separate ways.

Mesogog's Island Fortress

"YES, YES YES!" Zedd roared in approval. With their latest bevy of attacks, it seemed that ultimate victory was finally in his grasp. "Finally, VICTORY IS WITHIN OUR GRASP!"

Only four of the Rangers that could actually fight remained...Tommy, Kim, Trent and Zack. Sure, those four had hidden themselves wisely. But seriously, without their teammates the Rangers didn't have their main strength any longer...numbers. So seriously, how much of a chance did they really have?

For Scorpina, the near victory was bittersweet. It was bitter in the fact that she wouldn't have Adam to intimidate anymore, as within a matter of hours he would be trapped inside a nice photograph...forever.

But these Rangers had given her so many headaches over the last 10 years...first with Rita, then and now with Zedd...that it would be more than worth it to see those Rangers finally go down and for her to at least think about getting some of the spoils of Earth.

For Goldar, the moment of ultimate victory was at long last before him. The best part about it was that the two Rangers he hated the most...Tommy Oliver, that damned Dr. Oliver, and his little pink princess would be the ones most utterly humiliated. Long ago it seemed that Kimberly would belong to Zedd but the Rangers stole her away and Kim never really bought into it in the first place.

As for Tommy...well, nothing about Tommy really needed to be said for Goldar's blood to boil. It had been bad enough that Goldar's number one general spot had been usurped by Tommy while he worked for Rita. And it was even worse that Tommy had left them and had gone to work for that old fool Zordon. But what really made his blood boil was that he'd come so very close to finally ending this miserable nuisance once and for all. But every time he had victory within his grasp, it was snatched away that quickly by that very same man.

But this time, it really seemed to be over. Revenge was finally at hand. Finally, it seemed, Tommy would be utterly destroyed.

The great thing - for this group at least - was that was the one thing they all shared in common. They wanted the Earth, sure. Both Zedd and Mesogog and their goons had come close to destroying the Earth before but had failed. But even more so, they both wanted the evidence that they had destroyed the mighty Power Rangers of Earth - these same Rangers which had been pulling miracles out of their backsides for the better part of a decade.

This was exactly why they brought back Photomare. They wanted the evidence that they actually did the job.

And, even more than all of that, they wanted Tommy Oliver to suffer before he finally died his final death. They now had every single Ranger, except for a scant few, that Tommy had ever been close with. They were going to use that to lure him here, they were going to make him suffer, and then they were going to destroy the all mighty Tommy Oliver. If they destroyed Tommy, then victory was all but assured.

For Zedd and Mesgog, victory finally seemed destined.

Saturday, August 21, 2004

10:30 p.m.

Reefside, CA

"Did you talk to him?" Tommy said.

"Yeah," Kim said. "I chewed his ass out pretty good. When I mentioned Ken and that his actions reminded me of Ken's, he all but cried. That was all he needed to hear to apologize to me."

"As I recall, that was one of the reasons you became like a daughter to him in the first place," Tommy said.

"I really do think he's tired of this war, though, Tommy," Kim said. "I still think if he thought he could, he would walk in there and try to win this fight by himself."

"I wish he could too, Beautiful," Tommy said. "And I'm sad to say but his sister is correct. It's our responsibility...and ours alone...to go in there and give the team hope."

"Can we actually do it, Tommy?" Kim said. "We're severely outnumbered!"

"There's no reason to think we can't," Tommy said. "We've pulled out bigger miracles before."

Kim was about to say something else but a knock at the door stopped her.

"Man, who could be knocking on our door this late at night?" Tommy said. "This had better be good."

Tommy opened the door and to his surprise, there stood Nimrod, the Scarlet Sentinel.

"Hey, what are you doing up this late?" Tommy said.

"Thought you might like to know you have a guest in the basement that would like to speak with you."

"Yeah, who is it?" Kim said.

"It's Hayley. I think she might be free."

Kim and Tommy shared a look, then headed for the basement.

TBC...


End file.
